Gold Kist, Inc. v. Texas Utilities Electric Co.

This case requires us to decide whether under the pre-1987 comparative negligence statute a non-settling defendant has the exclusive authority to elect either a dollar-for-dollar or proportional credit based on the settlement of a co-defendant. Here, the plaintiff requested and the trial court submitted jury questions which effectively denied the non-settling defendant the opportunity to make an election. The trial court granted a proportional reduction in damages assessed rather than the dollar-for-dollar credit the non-settling defendant requested. The court of appeals disagreed and…