Court Opinion

ID: 9702576
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 23:17:25.165645+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:39.029916
License: Public Domain

Concurring Opinion by
Mr. Justice Pomeroy :
I agree that the parental immunity doctrine, as it generally has been applied, should be abrogated, and I join in the opinion of the Court subject to the caveat herein expressed. I believe, nevertheless, that these are areas of the parent-child relationship, unique in our society, to which the traditional concepts of negligence should not be applied. The Wisconsin Supreme Court, discarding the doctrine of parental immunity in Goller v. White, 20 Wis. 2d 402, 122 N.W. 2d 193 (1963), excepted two situations from the scope of its decision: “(1) where the alleged negligent act involves an exercise of parental authority over the child; and (2) where the alleged negligent act involves an exercise of ordinary parental discretion with respect to the provision of food, clothing, housing, medical and dental services and other care.” In my view, the premise upon which the parental immunity doctrine has traditionally been supported, preservation of family harmony and parental authority, is a valid reason for recognizing the Wisconsin court’s exceptions. While the facts of the case at bar do not involve the excepted areas, I add this caveat in light of the Court’s statement that “the doctrine of parental immunity has no rational purpose today, and henceforth will not be recognized in Pennsylvania.”