Court Opinion

ID: 9574888
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:09:18.423135+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:47:20.464272
License: Public Domain

*25ANN WALSH BRADLEY, J.
¶ 46. {concurring). While I agree with the majority that a genuine issue of material fact exists concerning Anthony Kropelin's employment status, I do not agree with the majority that an affirmative answer to that question results in absolute liability for Lee Enterprises. The majority opinion is correct that this court has in the past determined that a violation of the child labor laws can impose absolute liability on the employer. Majority op. at 9; D.L. v. Huebner, 110 Wis. 2d 581, 640-41, 329 N.W.2d 890 (1983). However, the majority opinion incorrectly concludes that absolute liability automatically results from a violation of the child labor laws regardless of who is injured. That is not, until today, the law of this state.
¶47. The majority opinion confuses negligence per se with absolute liability. Based on our prior cases, negligence per se rather than absolute liability is the proper analytical framework in this case. This seemingly minor detail carries with it significant practical consequences.
¶ 48. Negligence per se and absolute liability are related legal concepts in that they both generally stem from violations of statutorily imposed standards of care and they both reduce the elements that a plaintiff must prove to successfully assert a negligence claim. In a typical negligence action, the plaintiff must prove four elements prior to recovery: (1) the defendant had a duty to the plaintiff (2) that it breached (3) causing (4) the plaintiffs injury. Nelson v. Davidson, 155 Wis. 2d 674, 679, 456 N.W.2d 343 (1990). Any liability a defendant faces after a plaintiff proves these four elements is then reduced by the comparative negligence attributed to the plaintiff. Wis. Stat. § 895.045.
*26¶ 49. Negligence per se results from, the violation of a statute in which the legislature has decreed the appropriate standard of care. Huebner, 110 Wis. 2d at 640; W. Page Keeton, Prosser and Keeton on the Law of Torts 229-30 (5th ed. 1984) (hereinafter "Keeton, Law of Torts"). In such cases, when a fact finder concludes that a party has violated the statute, duty and breach are "conclusively determined." Keeton, Law of Torts at 230; see also Huebner, 110 Wis. 2d at 640. However, "[n]egligence per se is not liability per se" and the plaintiff must still prove that the defendant's breach of its duty was a substantial cause of the plaintiffs injury. William L. Prosser, Contributory Negligence as Defense to Violation of Statute, 32 Minn. L. Rev. 105, 111 (1948); Huebner, 110 Wis. 2d at 640. Similarly, the defendant retains the ability to minimize or neutralize the finding of negligence with a showing that the plaintiffs negligence was equal to or greater than that perpetrated by the defendant. Keeton, Law of Torts at 230.
¶ 50. While absolute liability is also the result of a statutory violation, its consequences are significantly more severe than negligence per se. In these instances, a statutory violation results not only in a legal conclusion that the defendant breached a duty, but also in a similar conclusion that the breach was the cause of the plaintiffs injury. Huebner, 110 Wis. 2d at 640. Where absolute liability is the standard, a defendant cannot minimize its liability as the plaintiffs own contribution to his or her injury is not considered. Id. The relevant inquiry is thus reduced to (1) Did the defendant violate the statute, and (2) Was the plaintiff injured? Id.
¶ 51. Because of its potency, absolute liability is a rarity in the law. It will exist only in those limited circumstances where the legislature has "so clearly *27intended to protect a particular class of persons against their own inability to protect themselves." Keeton, Law of Torts at 230; Restatement (Second) of Torts, § 483, cmt. e, f.
¶ 52. The cases in which we have held an employer absolutely liable for a violation of the child labor laws occurred where the child was the person injured. Huebner, 110 Wis. 2d at 588-91 (child injured in farm accident); Reiten v. J. S. Stearns Lumber Co., 166 Wis. 605, 606, 165 N.W. 337 (1918) (child injured in lumber company accident); Green v. Appleton Woolen Mills, 162 Wis. 145, 155 N.W. 958 (1916) (child injured in factory accident); Pinoza v. Northern Chair Co., 152 Wis. 473, 479-81, 140 N.W. 84 (1913) (child injured in factory accident); Sharon v. Winnebago Furniture Mfg. Co., 141 Wis. 185, 124 N.W. 299 (1910) (child injured in ripsaw accident); see also Tisdale v. Hasslinger, 79 Wis. 2d 194, 197-98, 255 N.W.2d 314 (1977); Hertz Drivurself Stations v. Industrial Commission, 254 Wis. 308, 309, 35 N.W.2d 910 (1949).
¶ 53. Conversely, this court has employed the negligence per se standard in those cases where the illegally-employed child injured another. McGarrity v. Welch Plumbing Co., 104 Wis. 2d 414, 422-23, 312 N.W.2d 37 (1981) (non-employee injured by child employed in violation of the child labor laws); see also Huebner, 110 Wis. 2d at 641 n.11. Contrary to the majority opinion, our precedent compels us to apply the negligence per se standard because the injured party here is not the allegedly employed minor.
¶ 54. Aside from it being our law for nearly ninety years, applying absolute liability when the child is injured and negligence per se when the child injures another furthers laudable public policy. In the exceptional cases where absolute liability is imposed, it is *28only so because that class of persons is deemed unable either to provide for its own safety or appreciate the danger of its actions. Prosser, 32 Minn. L. Rev. at 118-20; Keeton, The Law of Torts at 230.
¶ 55. Much like a child is deemed legally incapable of consenting to sexual contact, Wis. Stat. § 948.02, a child is also legally incapable of contributing to his or her injury when employed in violation of the child labor laws. As a result, this state has determined that the employer who illegally employs a child cannot benefit from that child's ignorance or inexperience contributing to his or her own injury. Hüebner, 110 Wis. 2d at 640-42; Sharon, 141 Wis. at 190. The child labor laws exist because the legislature considers certain activities too dangerous for children. See Wis. Admin. Code § DWD 270.06 (May 1997). An illegally employed child who is then injured in the course of that employment only proves the legislature's point. To allow the employer to mitigate its liability by arguing that the child's actions are responsible for his or her own injury — contending in essence that the statute was all too correct — perversely turns the child labor law on its head. See Restatement (Second) of Torts, § 483, cmts. c, e, f (1964).
¶ 56. Those same considerations are not present when, as in this case, someone other than the illegally employed child suffers the injury. An adult such as Beard certainly was not within a class of persons legally incapable of contributing to his injury. But for the fact that Beard was killed by a child, the majority would hardly suggest that any negligence on his behalf should not factor into the liability calculation.1 I see no *29reason in either law or policy to relieve him of that burden in this case.
¶ 57. The above analysis compels me to conclude that under these facts Lee Enterprises could not be held absolutely liable. At best, it could be held negligent per se. Before such a holding however, a court must conclude that the violations of these particular statutes impose civil consequences and a fact-finder must conclude that an employment relationship existed.
¶ 58. The violation of a statute does not automatically impose civil liability. This court has said that three questions must be answered in the affirmative before the violation of a statute will constitute negligence per se.
(1) the harm inflicted was the type the statute was designed to prevent; (2) the person injured was within the class of persons sought to be protected; and (3) there is some expression of legislative intent that the statute become a basis for the imposition of civil liability.
*30Tatur v. Solsrud, 174 Wis. 2d 735, 743, 498 N.W.2d 232 (1993). Beard argues that a violation of Wis. Stat. §§ 103.24 and 103.65 creates negligence per se. I agree.
¶ 59. First, these particular statutes and the administrative rules promulgated pursuant to them regulate the type of employment a minor may engage in as well as the hours and conditions of that employment. See, e.g., Wis. Admin. Code § DWD chs. 270 & 271 (May 1997). Rule DWD § 270.06(13) declares that driving a motor vehicle on a public highway, except where such driving is incidental and done during daylight hours, is a dangerous activity for the minor. Considering that Charles Beard was killed in the middle of the night, that injury was of the type that the statute was designed to prevent. See also DWD § 270.05(2) (regulating hours that a minor can work); DWD § 271.04 (same).
¶ 60. Second, under the administrative code, Beard must either be a fellow employee or a frequenter in order to fall within the class of persons protected by the statute. DWD § 270.06. Like the majority I conclude that because Kropelin was engaged in a street trade, the public highway on which he was traveling became his place of employment. Majority op. at 20-21. Therefore, at the time of the accident, by driving on the public highway Beard was a frequenter and within the class of persons protected by the statutes. Id. at 21-22.
¶ 61. Third, I conclude that the legislature has intended that a violation of either Wis. Stat. §§ 103.24 or 103.65 gives rise to civil liability. In short, the statutes at issue here indicate "such a clear expression of concern for the safety of [minor employees, other employees, or frequenters], committed so plainly to the responsibility of [employers], that [I] conclude that the [employers] so charged are exposed to civil liability for *31their failure to do that with which they are charged." Walker v. Bignell, 100 Wis. 2d 256, 271, 301 N.W.2d 447 (1981). See also McGarrity, 104 Wis. 2d at 418-19; Wells v. Chicago & North Western Transp. Co., 98 Wis. 2d 328, 332-34, 296 N.W.2d 559 (1980).
¶ 62. In sum, I agree with the majority that a genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether Anthony Kropelin was an employee of Lee Enterprises for purposes of Wis. Stat. § 103.21.2 Summary judgment was therefore erroneously granted. However, I cannot agree with the majority that a jury's affirmative answer to that question results in Lee Enterprises being absolutely liable to Beard. Rather, under our long-standing precedent, a jury's affirmative answer would result in Lee Enterprises being negligent — but not necessarily in it being liable. Liability would result *32only if Beard additionally convinced a jury that Lee Enterprises' negligent actions caused his injury in greater proportion than any negligent actions of his own. Accordingly, I concur.
¶ 63. I am authorized to state that CHIEF JUSTICE SHIRLEY S. ABRAHAMSON joins this opinion.

 The majority contends that this negligence per se/absolute liability dichotomy "appears to be inconsistent regarding the employer's liability based on the sheer luck of who is injured." *29Majority op. at 24. The majority seems to forget, or at least overlook, the fact that under the appropriate negligence per se test Lee Enterprises is hardly home free. It has breached a duty and can do nothing to escape that fact.
Moreover, "sheer luck" cuts both ways. The majority has nothing to say about the fact that under its test persons who are injured by an illegally-employed minor do not need to prove causation and are absolved from any of their own actions that contribute to their injury. These advantages result only from the "sheer luck" of having been injured by an illegally-employed minor.

 I also agree with the majority that the interplay between Wis. Stat. § 103.21 and §§ 103.25-103.275 suggests that an employer must have either actual or constructive knowledge that a minor is in its employ. Majority op. at 11—13. However, I cannot agree with the majority's justifying that conclusion in part on the legislature's modification of chapter 102 of the statutes. Id. at 13—15.
Chapter 102 regulates worker's compensation while chapter 103 regulates employment. These are separate concepts in the law whose definitions of terms and ultimate purposes need not be in harmony. Statutes should be read in pari materia when they are found within the same chapter and concern the same subject-matter. Lake City Corp. v. City of Mequon, 207 Wis. 2d 155, 165-66 n.11, 558 N.W.2d 100 (1997) (Wis. Stat. § 236.13(l)(c) and § 236.11); State v. Sweat, 208 Wis. 2d 409, 417, 561 N.W.2d 695 (1997) (different subsections in Wis. Stat. § 973.20); State v. Clausen, 105 Wis. 2d 231, 244, 313 N.W.2d 819 (1982) (different subsections of Wis. Adm. Code, § AG 110.02). No similar maxim applies to statutes outside of the same chapter or subject matter.