Thermos Company v. Elaine Spence et al.

The Thermos Company alleges that, on July 6, 1993, Gary and Celeste Winton were injured in a fire caused when flammable gas leaked from a propane gas cylinder manufactured by Thermos and filled by employees of the Perkins General Store in North Berwick, Maine. The Wintons filed a complaint against Thermos. The complaint did not name the owners of the Perkins General Store as defendants, and Thermos did not move to join them in the action. Thermos entered into a settlement agreement with the Wintons, paying 2.7 million dollars in settlement of their claims. Thermos then filed this action seeking contribution from Elaine Spence and Frederick Perkins, owners of the Perkins General Store, claiming that the conflagration in which the Wintons were injured was caused, at least in part, by the negligence of the employee of the Perkins General Store who overfilled the Wintons' propane gas cylinder. Spence and Perkins requested a jury trial, and the matter was placed on the jury trial list. Thermos's motion to remove the case from the jury trial list was denied by the Superior Court.

The court then granted Thermos's motion to report the action to the Law Court. Spence and Perkins did not challenge the report.

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The Supreme Judicial Court of Maine concluded that an action for contribution among allegedly joint tortfeasors carries with it a constitutional right to trial by jury, and affirmed the order of the Superior Court. See: 735 A.2d 484 (ME 1999). The date shown above is the date of the appellate court decision and not the trial date. Reported by JAB.