Landers v. East Texas Salt Water Disposal Co.

C.H. Landers (plaintiff) sued East Texas Salt Water Disposal Company and Sun Oil Company (defendants) for jointly and severally polluting a lake he owned and had expensively stocked with fish, even though the two companies acted independently rather than in concert. Over Landers's objection, the trial court severed the case against each company individually under the then-prevailing Texas rule limiting joint and several liability pleadings to situations involving alleged concerted action or unity of design; the court of civil appeals affirmed that severance, and when Landers refused to replead his case as two separate individual suits, the trial judge dismissed it entirely. Landers appealed to the Texas Supreme Court.