Browning-Ferris, Inc. v. MacK Trucks, Inc.

OPINION

KENNEDY, Justice.

We must determine whether, in a multiparty lawsuit, a trial court errs in refusing to dismiss a defendant after that defendant settles with the plaintiff. We must also decide whether the particular settlement agreement involved should have been revealed to the jury. We affirm.

A simplified version of the facts follows. Cynthia Ortiz and other members of her family sued several defendants on grounds of negligence and products liability, alleging that they were responsible for the death of her husband. Richard Ortiz was the passenger in an automobile which was struck by a…