Norfolk & Western Railway Co. v. Bailey Lumber Co.

Res judicata is the focus of this appeal. Specifically, we consider whether, under the circumstances of this case, the doctrine of mutuality should be renounced as applied to a plea of collateral estoppel.

On July 9, 1976, in the Town of Tazewell, a locomotive of appellant Norfolk & Western Railway Company collided at a grade crossing with a loaded gasoline tanker motor vehicle of appellee Dayton Transport Corporation. The collision caused an explosion that killed bystander Jesse Lawrence Sparks, damaged a nearby building and other property of appellee Bailey Lumber Company, and caused…