Barab v. Menford
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
98 F.R.D. 455 (1983)
Barab (plaintiff) sued innkeeper Menford (defendant) after slipping on a doormat. Menford filed a third-party claim against Channel Home Centers (third-party defendant), claiming Channel sold him the doormat and owed him full indemnity. Channel denied selling the doormat and, late in the litigation, sought to bring in Joy Plastics as the doormat's actual supplier — even though Channel had no relationship with Joy and offered no evidence Joy would owe anything to Channel itself.
Whether a defendant may implead a party under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 14(a) where that party might be liable to the plaintiff but would never be liable to the original defendant.