Court Opinion

ID: 9664530
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 00:20:46.863342+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:15:07.048328
License: Public Domain

NORTON, Judge
(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent. Contrary to the majority’s opinion, I do not believe that the doctrine of primary assumption of risk applies to this case. I would remand this case for a jury to decide the negligence of all parties.
The application of primary, rather than secondary, assumption of the risk depends “upon the plaintiff’s manifestation of consent, express or implied, to relieve the defendant of a duty.” Armstrong v. Mailand, 284 N.W.2d 343, 351 (1979). “The classes of cases involving an implied primary assumption of risk are not many.” Springrose v. Willmore, 292 Minn. 23, 24, 192 N.W.2d 826, 827 (1971). In Minnesota, primary assumption of the risk has been most often applied to inherently dangerous sporting events. See Wagner v. Thomas J. Obert Enter., 396 N.W.2d 223 (Minn.1986) (roller skating); Swagger v. City of Crystal, 379 N.W.2d 183 (Minn.App.1985) (softball), pet. for rev. denied (Minn. Feb. 19, 1986).
Primary assumption of the risk is inapplicable in the present case because Andren never agreed to relieve defendants of their duty to protect him. I do not agree that consent to release defendants from their duty can be implied from Andren’s act of lighting a cigarette. He would never have consented to self combustion. Absent a manifestation of consent, Andren’s act embodied secondary, not primary, assumption of the risk. As secondary assumption of the risk is a form of contributory negligence, see Springrose, 292 Minn. at 24, 192 N.W.2d at 827, I would remand this case to a jury for an apportionment of fault.
I am also troubled by the majority’s characterization of Andren’s act as a voluntary choice. To primarily assume a risk, a plaintiff must voluntarily choose to chance a known and appreciated risk. Armstrong, 284 N.W.2d at 351. As I believe that reasonable people could find that the absentminded, habitual act of lighting a cigarette did not constitute a voluntary choice to encounter the risk of an explosion, I would remand this case to a jury to determine whether Andren’s act was a voluntary choice.