Opinion ID: 1189073
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: The Totality of the Actors' Negligence Must be Determined

Text: In Connett v. Fremont County School District No. 6, Wyo., 581 P.2d 1097 (1978), we cited with approval Cirillo v. City of Milwaukee, 34 Wis.2d 705, 150 N.W.2d 460 (1967), a Wisconsin case (from which state we took our comparative-negligence statute) for the following proposition:    `   What is contemplated by our comparative negligence statute    is that the totality of the causal negligence present in the case will be examined to determine the contribution each party has made to that whole.'    See generally, Heft and Heft, Comparative Negligence Manual, § 5.130 (1971). Thus, under the comparative-negligence statute, in the case of either single or multiple plaintiffs or defendants, a negligent plaintiff would be precluded from recovering against any defendant causing injury who is found to be less at fault than the plaintiff. Board of County Commissioners of Campbell County v. Ridenour, supra; § 1-1-109(a). This means that the liability of any party may be determined only when each actor's percentage of fault is known. We have said:    [I]n a comparative negligence case the jury must consider the negligence of not only the parties but all the participants in the transaction which produced the injuries sued upon. [4] Board of County Commissioners of Campbell County v. Ridenour, 623 P.2d at 1191. The requirement that all participants' fault be ascertained means that the fault of nonparty actors as well as party tortfeasors must be calculated by the factfinder. In Palmeno v. Cashen, Wyo., 627 P.2d 163, 165-166 (1981), we said:    Under comparative negligence law in this state, the trier of fact should find the percentage of negligence attributable to each of the actors who have proximately caused the plaintiff's injuries regardless of whether the actors have been named as parties to the lawsuit. Board of County Commissioners of the County of Campbell v. Ridenour, Wyo. 1981, 623 P.2d 1174; Cline v. Sawyer, Wyo. 1979, 600 P.2d 725; Beard v. Brown, Wyo. 1980, 616 P.2d 726. The purpose of this requirement is to accurately gauge the percentage of plaintiff's own contributory negligence, if present, which is an important finding since it will operate to reduce a plaintiff's recovery or completely preclude recovery if greater than that of each of the actors, separately determined on a one-on-one basis. Ridenour, supra. Even though the nonparty actors' percentage of negligence must be ascertained so that the parties' percentage of negligence may be accurately disclosed, the nonparty actor is, of course, not bound by the degree of fault fixed by the jury, Board of County Commissioners of Campbell County v. Ridenour, supra, nor does the nonparty actor have any direct influence upon any party's ability to recover in the action. The nonparty actor's negligence is not compared with the negligence of the party, because recovery is not sought from a nonparty. The nonparty actor does, however, influence the comparison process in the sense that his fault is contemplated along with the fault of the parties for purposes of determining whether the plaintiff may recover from a defendant or from defendants for the injury for which recovery is sought. Board of County Commissioners of Campbell County v. Ridenour, supra. Logic dictates that, if the negligence of an actor who is not a party is not included in the comparative-negligence calculation, the percentage of negligence of defendants who are parties may be inflated, and this would have a detrimental impact upon the comparison of the fault of the plaintiff and the several defendants in reaching a determination as to liability of some or all of the defendants to the plaintiff. Once the percentage of each actor's fault summing to 100% is known, the defendants from whom the plaintiff may recover, if any there be, become apparent. Contrary to the understanding of Kirby as revealed by its brief, the comparative-negligence statute also contemplates that any recovery must be reduced by a figure which represents the plaintiff's percentage of fault, if any. Board of County Commissioners of Campbell County v. Ridenour, supra; § 1-1-109(a).