for the Court.
Thе plaintiff, Michelle Hall, appeals from a judgment of the Superior Court granting the motion for summary judgment of the defendants, Colleen Belmonte and Kim Hornby. This case came before the Supreme Court pursuant to an order directing the parties to appear and show cause why the issues raised in this appeal should not summarily be decided. After considering the pаrties’ written and oral arguments, and after reviewing the record, we conclude that cause has not been shown and that this case may be decided without further briefing or argument. The primary issue presented on appeal is straightforward: whether G.L. 1966 § 10-6-2 — which provides, in pertinent part, “that a master and servant or principal and agent shall be considered a single tortfeasor” — means that the release of the master from liability also releases the servant. For the reasons set forth below, we hold that it does and therefore affirm the judgment of the Supеrior Court.
Facts and Travel
The salient facts in this'case are not disputed. In March 2015, plaintiff brought suit against Tavares Pediatric Center, Inc. on behalf of herself and her daughter, alleging'that her daughter suffered sеrious injuries while in Tavares’s care. The complaint consisted of two counts: one alleging negligence, and a second alleging loss of consortium. Shortly thereafter, plaintiff and Tаvares settled and the litigation was dismissed. As part of the settlement, plaintiff executed a Joint Tortfeasor Release, which released Tavares, its insurer* and others from claims arising from the medical treatment of plaintiffs daughter. However, the terms of the Joint Tortfeasor Release specifically exempted “the agents, employees, representatives, and/or medical staff of Tavares * * Indeed, plaintiff also “reserve[d] the right 'to make a claim against every other person, firm or corporation, including, without limitation, Colleеn Belmonte[,3 and ⅜ * * the right to make claim that Colleen Belmonte and not the Releasees are solely liable for alleged injuries, losses and damages.”
It is undisputed that, while she was in the сare of Tavares, plaintiffs daughter was treated by two nurses,.Colleen.Bel-monte and Kim Hornby. After settling with Tavares and executing the Joint Tort-feasor Release, plaintiff brought a secоnd suit against nurses Belmonte and Hornby. In a complaint nearly identical to the one that she had brought against Tavares, plaintiff again asserted two counts: one for negligence and a second for loss of consortium. Following some.limited discovery, Belmonte and Hornby moved for summary judgment.
In their motion, defendants argued that plaintiffs claims were barred because of thе language set forth in § 10-6-2. 1 Citing the language of the statute, defendants maintained that, because they and Tavares stood in a master-servant relationship, they “shall be considered a single tоrtfea-sor.” It follows, defendants argued, that plaintiffs release of Tavares from liability required that they, too, were released from liability. The trial justice agreed, finding that § 10-6-2 barred plaintiffs сlaims, and he therefore granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment. The plaintiff timely appealed to this Court.
II
Standard of Review
It is well settled that when we review-the grant of a party’s motion for summary judgment, we dо so de novo. Van Hoesen v. Lloyd’s of London,
Similаrly, we also review questions of statutory interpretation de novo. GSM Industrial, Inc. v. Grinnell Fire Protection Systems Co.,
HI
Discussion
Before this Court, plaintiff advances thrеe arguments. The plaintiff first maintains that § 10-6-2 does not bar her claims against defendants. Second, plaintiff argues that an affidavit submitted by her attorney — averring that plaintiffs initial complaint against Tavares alleged that Tavares was independently liable for her daughter’s injuries — raises a genuine issue of material fact, rendering summary judgment inappropriate. Finally, notwithstanding the language of § 10-6-2, plaintiff, relying on the language in the release, maintains that she preserved her claims against defendants.
At the outset, we note that this-Court has previously declared that “[t]he lаnguage of § 10-6-2 is clear and unequivocal: ‘a master and servant or principal and agent shall be considered a single tortfea-sor.’” DelSanto v. Hyundai Motor Finance Co.,
We turn our focus 'to § 10-6-2’s concluding clause, the requirement “that a master and servant * ⅜ * shall be cоnsidered a single tortfeasor,” and we can reach, no other conclusion than that the release of one — either the master or the servant— results in the release of both. Here, pursuant to the pellucid language of § 10-6-2, Tavares, as master, and. defendants, as servants, are a single tortfeasor.. Consequently, plaintiffs .release of Tavares resulted in the rеlease of defendants. The simple, direct, and unambiguous language of the statute forecloses plaintiffs claims.
In an effort to limit the application of this clear statutory languаge, plaintiff argues that this Court has recognized a distinction as to the type of liability that is extinguished when an injured party releases a liable party. As plaintiff correctly points out, generally, when an injured party releases a tortfeasor-servant, it follows that the master is also released because the sole liability that flowed to the master is vicarious, imposеd by a legal fiction based only on the servant’s tortious conduct. See Pridemore v. Napolitano,
Because we hold that § 10-6-2 foreсloses the plaintiffs claims in this case, we need not address whether the affidavit submitted by the plaintiff s attorney raised a genuine issue of material fact. Our holding also disposes of the plaintiffs argument that she preserved her claims against the members of Tavares’s medical staff pursuant to the Joint Tortfeasor Release. The language set forth in the Joint Tortfeasor Release purporting to preserve the plaintiffs claims against the defendants cannot override the statute’s crystal-clear mandate that Tavares and the defendants, as master and servants, “shall be considered a single tortfeasor.” See Woonsocket Teachers’ Guild, Local 951, AFT v. Woonsocket School Committee,
IV
Conclusion
For the reasons set forth in this opinion, we affirm the judgmеnt of the Superior Court. The record shall be remanded to that court.
Notes
. In full, G.L, 1956 § 10-6-2 provides:
"For the purposes of this chapter [the Uniform Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act], the term- 'joint tortfeasors' means two (2) or more persons jointly or severally liable in tort for the same injury to person or property, whether or not judgment has been recovered against all or some of them; provided, however, that a ntaster and servant or principal and agent shall be considered a single tortfeasor." (Emphasis added.)
. The complaint against Tavares set forth no basis оf independent liability against the master, such as negligent hiring or failure to properly train. Therefore, any argument based on any such theory is for another day. We also disagree with plaintiff’s contention that this interpretation reaches an absurd result.