Greenhorne & O’Mara, Inc. “Greenhorne”, an engineering firm, appeals the grant of summary judgment to the City of Atlanta as to Greenhorne’s contribution claim against the City in connection with a flooding sewer system designed by Greenhorne. Because the trial court correctly concluded that Greenhorne’s claim was barred by a prior adjudication of the City’s liability, we affirm. Summary judgment is proper when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. OCGA § 9-11-56 c. A de novo standard of review applies to an appeal from a grant of summary judgment, and we view the evidence, and all reasonable conclusions and inferences drawn from it, in the light most favorable to the nonmovant.1 The undisputed record shows that residents of a newly-built loft condominium complex experienced repeated flooding of raw sewage into their parking garage, and, in August 2003, they sued the City, Greenhorne, and other defendants. Their complaint alleged several claims including professional negligence on the part of Greenhorne for poorly designing the loft’s sewer system and nuisance on the part of the City for maintaining a defective sewer system that repeatedly flooded the property. In September 2004, the trial court granted the City’s motion for summary judgment in a final judgment on that issue on the ground that the City was not responsible for maintaining a nuisance at the site because the sewer lines were not properly dedicated to the City as required by the City code. In that order, the trial court entered final judgment pursuant to OCGA § 9-11-54 b “in favor of the City of Atlanta and against the loft plaintiffs on all of their claims for nuisance.” That order was not appealed. Instead, Greenhorne later moved for leave to file a cross-claim against the City for contribution. In light of the prior unappealed final order granting the City’s motion for summary judgment as to all of the plaintiffs’ nuisance claims against the City, the trial court denied Greenhorne’s motion in a January 2006 order ruling that Greenhorne could “not sustain a cross-claim against the City.” The case proceeded to trial, resulting in a verdict in favor of the plaintiffs. Greenhorne subsequently settled that dispute in lieu of an appeal.
In November 2007, Greenhorne filed suit against the City seeking contribution based on a nuisance theory.2 In July 2008, the trial court granted the City’s motion for summary judgment on res judicata grounds. This appeal followed.
