Inland/Riggle Oil Co. v. Painter

In Painter v. Inland/Riggle Oil Co., 911 P.2d 716 (Colo.App.1995), the court of appeals held that a responsible nonparty who cannot be a defendant in a comparative negligence action can nonetheless be considered a “person against whom recovery is sought” for purposes of the comparative negligence statute, section 13-21-111, 6A C.R.S. (1987). Having granted certiorari to review the court of appeals’ decision, we affirm.

I

On January 31, 1991, respondent Randy Painter was directed by an agent of his employer, Westran, Inc., to climb a large cylindrical fuel tank located at Westran’s fuel storage…