Opinion ID: 2105242
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Joint Concerted Tortious Activity (Aiding and Abetting a Tort).

Text: Joint concerted tortious activity is another name for aiding and abetting a tort. Id. at 596, 355 S.E.2d at 386. For the law on this theory, the Heicks rely here as they did in the district court on Restatement (Second) of Torts section 876(b) (1979). Section 876(b) provides: For harm resulting to a third person from the tortious conduct of another, one is subject to liability if he . . . . (b) knows that the other's conduct constitutes a breach of duty and gives substantial assistance or encouragement to the other so to conduct himself ... Comment d to section 876(b) provides: Advice or encouragement to act operates as a moral support to a tortfeasor and if the act encouraged is known to be tortious it has the same effect upon the liability of the adviser as participation or physical assistance. If the encouragement or assistance is a substantial factor in causing the resulting tort, the one giving it is himself a tortfeasor and is responsible for the consequences of the other's act. This is true both when the act done is an intended trespass and when it is merely a negligent act. The rule applies whether or not the other knows his act is tortious. It likewise applies to a person who knowingly gives substantial aid to another who, as he knows, intends to do a tortious act. The assistance of or participation by the defendant may be so slight that he is not liable for the act of the other. In determining this, the nature of the act encouraged, the amount of assistance given by the defendant, his presence or absence at the time of the tort, his relation to the other and his state of mind are all considered. (Emphasis added.) The language substantial factor in causing the resulting tort requires that the encouragement or assistance given to the alleged aider and abettor must be a proximate cause of the tort causing injury. A. Aiding and abetting drunk driving. Depending on the factual scenario, cases have gone both ways on whether to impose section 876(b) liability on passengers for injuries to a third party because of the driver's intoxication. In Stock v. Fife, 13 Mass.App.Ct. 75, 430 N.E.2d 845 (1982), after a night of drinking, the driver and his three passengers were on their way home when an accident occurred. Just before the accident, two of the passengers were drinking beer. The court found as a matter of law that the passengers had not affirmatively encouraged the driver to drink. Stock, 13 Mass.App.Ct. at 82 n. 10, 430 N.E.2d at 849-50 n. 10. Significantly for the court, there was no showing that the passengers forced, pressured, or induced [the driver] to drink, or that his drinking was anything but an act of independent volition. Id. at 82, 430 N.E.2d at 849. In Olson v. Ische, 343 N.W.2d 284 (Minn.1984), both the driver and the passenger were intoxicated and each had taken a cup of beer with them as they left a card party to go home. On the way home, there was an accident resulting in injuries to the plaintiff who then sued the passenger. The court held as a matter of law there was no causal connection between the passenger's actions and the accident because the passenger provided no substantial encouragement of the driver's conduct. Olson, 343 N.W.2d at 289. The court emphasized that the driver and passenger had each drunk voluntarily and the passenger was merely a guest in the vehicle. Id. In Aebischer v. Reidt, 74 Or.App. 692, 704 P.2d 531 (1985), evidence that the passengers kept refilling a marijuana pipe for the driver was sufficient to generate a fact question on the issue of substantial assistance. Aebischer, 74 Or.App. at 696, 704 P.2d at 533. There was other evidence that marijuana can impair driving ability and that the driver was affected by the marijuana. Id. Price involved facts similar to those in Aebischer. The complaint alleged that the defendant-passengers were drinking and smoking marijuana and encouraged the driver to do so when he was already visibly intoxicated. Price, 177 W.Va. at 597, 355 S.E.2d at 387. These allegations were sufficient to allege section 876(b) liability based on substantial assistance. Id. at 597, 355 S.E.2d at 388. These four cases stand for the proposition that passengers can be liable to an injured third party under section 876(b) when they actively encourage an intoxicated driver to continue his or her drug or alcohol use where such encouragement causes the accident and injury. In Olson and Stock the evidence fell short of showing such encouragement, whereas in Aebischer and Price the evidence and allegations were sufficient. The Heicks alleged that Kristy aided and abetted Stewart's drunk driving. To overcome Kristy's motion for directed verdict, the Heicks had to produce substantial evidence that Kristy substantially assisted or encouraged Stewart to drive while drunk by actively encouraging him to (1) drink or (2) continue drinking after he was already intoxicated. On its facts, this case is more akin to Stock and Olson than to Aebischer and Price. There was no evidence that Kristy furnished Stewart any alcoholic drinks or encouraged him to consume them. Although Stewart and Kristy attended the events together, each partied with others, and each drank voluntarily. There was no evidence that Kristy forced, pressured, or induced Stewart to drink. His drinking was an independent volitional act. At most, the evidence shows that Kristy knowingly accompanied Stewart while he was driving drunk. Her mere presence, however, is not substantial evidence that she assisted or encouraged this unlawful activity. The fact that she made no effort to prevent his unlawful conduct is notstanding aloneaiding and abetting. That Kristy apparently said keep going just before the collision is some evidence of encouragement but not enough, we think, to rise to the level of substantial assistance or encouragement. The evidence was insufficient to establish that Kristy aided and abetted Stewart's tortious drunk driving. B. Aiding and abetting the violation of the rules of the road. Courts have also imposed section 876(b) liability on passengers who encouraged drivers to violate the rules of the road. In Cooper v. Bondoni, 841 P.2d 608 (Okla.App.1992), the petition alleged that four passengers in a vehicle simultaneously urged the driver to pass a vehicle on a hill in a no-passing zone. The petition further alleged that by these actions the passengers aided and abetted the negligent act of the driver. The negligent act was a failure to yield the right-of-way to an oncoming motorist causing a head-on collision with the plaintiff's motorcycle and resulting injuries to the plaintiff. Relying on section 876(b), the court found the allegations were sufficient to generate a jury question on whether the defendant-passengers aided and abetted the violation of a traffic offense. Cooper, 841 P.2d at 612. However, another court refused to impose section 876(b) liability on a similarly situated passenger. See Winslow v. Brown, 125 Wis.2d 327, 371 N.W.2d 417 (App.1985). In Winslow, a bicyclist sued passengers of an automobile which struck and injured the bicyclist on a trail reserved exclusively for bicycles. The bicyclist's resistance to the passengers' summary judgment motion did not allege that the passengers encouraged, advised, or assisted the driver to operate on the bicycle trail. Such failure was fatal to the plaintiff's aiding and abetting theory, and the trial court's summary judgment ruling to that effect was upheld on appeal. Id. at 331-32, 371 N.W.2d at 423. The court emphasized that [m]ere presence, with no effort to prevent unlawful conduct, is not aiding and abetting unless an intent to assist is communicated. Id. at 331, 371 N.W.2d at 423. In addition, the court noted that passively accompanying a driver on an unlawful trip does not raise an inference of a willingness to assist. Id. The Heicks also alleged that Kristy aided and abetted Stewart's violation of several rules of the road. Allegations as to the rules-of-the-road violations included failure to maintain a look-out, failure to maintain control, and failure to drive at a proper speed. To overcome Kristy's motion for directed verdict as to this theory, the Heicks had to produce substantial evidence that Kristy substantially assisted or encouraged Stewart to violate these rules of the road. We think the evidence was likewise insufficient to establish that Kristy substantially assisted or encouraged Stewart in failing to (1) keep a proper-lookout, (2) have his pickup under control, and (3) obey the speed laws. Again, Kristy's mere presence is not substantial evidence that she encouraged or assisted Stewart in committing these violations.