Opinion ID: 1934270
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Limited Parental Immunity

Text: This Court has held that Delaware's enactment of a comparative negligence statute did not change the common law doctrine of proximate cause. Culver v. Bennett, 588 A.2d at 1098. Multiple defendants may be liable as joint tortfeasors if each defendant's negligence is found to be a proximate cause of a plaintiff's injury. Id. If one defendant's negligence is found to be the sole proximate cause of the plaintiffs injury, it is a supervening cause which shields the other defendants from liability. McKeon v. Goldstein. 164 A.2d at 263. In cases where the parental immunity doctrine applies, defendants who decide to assert the parent's negligence as a supervening cause adopt essentially an all or nothing legal strategy. The trier of fact may decide that the parent's negligence and the negligence of one or more defendants were all proximate causes of the child's injury. In such an event, since the parent is immune from direct liability or liability for contribution, by definition the parent cannot be a joint tortfeasor. 10 Del.C. §§ 6301 and 6302. See Medical Ctr. of Del., Inc. v. Mullins, Del.Supr., 637 A.2d 6 (1994). [6] Therefore, the non-parent tortfeasors will be held jointly and severally liable for the entire amount of the minor child's damages. Because this case is in the pre-trial stage and will be remanded for further proceedings, we will summarize our holdings seriatim. First, where parental control, authority, or discretion is involved, e.g., in potential actions against parents for negligent supervision of their children, the rule of parental immunity is preserved in Delaware and precludes direct claims by a minor child, as well as third-party claims for contribution. Accord Schneider I, 405 A.2d 682; Strahorn v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., Del.Super., 50 Del. 50, 123 A.2d 107 (1956). Cf. Williams v. Williams, Del.Supr., 369 A.2d 669 (1976). Second, if the parent's negligence is relevant [7] to the minor child's theory of liability, but not actionable, [8] a defendant may introduce evidence to establish that the parent's negligence was a supervening cause of the minor child's injury. McKeon v. Goldstein, 164 A.2d 260. Third, if the parent's negligence was a proximate cause but not a supervening cause, the parent's negligence does not provide a basis for reducing full payment to the minor child or the basis for a claim of contribution by any defendant determined to be a tortfeasor, since by definition the parent cannot be a joint tortfeasor. See Medical Ctr. of Del., Inc. v. Mullins, 637 A.2d 6; Schneider I, 405 A.2d 682. [9]