Court Opinion

ID: 9660246
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 22:08:40.884541+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:14:16.919257
License: Public Domain

WELLIVER, Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I concur in the principal opinion’s holding that we should “decline appellants’ invitation to abrogate parental immunity outright.” Abolition of the doctrine would encourage family dischord, undermine parental discipline and control, and inundate our already overburdened courts with a flood of unnecessary litigation.
I dissent from the principal opinion’s result insofar as it prevents appellants from making the minor respondent’s father a *183party to the lawsuit for the limited purpose of determining his—and thus appellants’— relative fault. We have retreated from our holding in Missouri Pacific Railroad v. Whitehead & Kales Co., 566 S.W.2d 466 (Mo. banc 1978), virtually from the day it was announced. See Parks v. Union Carbide Corp., 602 S.W.2d 188 (Mo. banc 1980); State ex rel. Victaulic Co. of America v. Meyers, 588 S.W.2d 494 (Mo. banc 1979); State ex rel. Advanced Circuitry Division, Litton Systems, Inc. v. Powell, 588 S.W.2d 493 (Mo. banc 1979); State ex rel. Maryland Heights Concrete Contractors, Inc. v. Ferriss, 588 S.W.2d 489 (Mo. banc 1979). Today’s decision is but another step backward.
Whitehead & Kales recognized the principle of fairness that “one tortfeasor is ultimately liable only for the amount of damages that he caused.” Parks, 602 S.W.2d at 201 (Welliver, J., dissenting). That principle deserves more than mere lip service. The refusal to allow an action against the minor respondent’s father “for the purpose of comparing [his] fault is inconsistent with the general principles announced in Whitehead and Kales.” Steinman v. Strobel, 589 S.W.2d 293, 295 n.3 (Mo. banc 1979) (Welliver, J., concurring).
“The proportion of the [minor respondent’s] injury that was caused by the [father’s] negligence should be determined by the jury, so that the judgment entered against the [appellants] will reflect only that portion of damages for which [they are] responsible.” Parks, 602 S.W.2d at 201-02 (Welliver, J., dissenting). This comports with the requirement we made with respect to releases in State ex rel. Tarrasch v. Crow, 622 S.W.2d 928 (Mo. banc 1981). We held in Tarrasch that the plaintiff’s release of one defendant did not prevent the second defendant from seeking contribution from the first. Id. at 935. The release protected the first defendant from further liability, but the second was forced to pay only his proportionate share of the damages. Id. at 937. The principle of fairness underlying Whitehead & Kales demands the same result in this case. Parental immunity bars a suit for damages against the father, but that
does not make it necessary that we narrow the application of the relative fault concept in this case. The relative fault of [appellants] against which there is no legal bar to judgment should still be determined. ... [A] pure concept of relative fault requires that the right of a claimant to recover from one tort-feasor be determined in accordance with a jury’s finding of the respective percentages of fault as between all tort-feasors.
Maryland Heights, 588 S.W.2d at 492 (Don-nelly, J., dissenting). Given our holding in Tarrasch, any other result would lead only to more uncertainty for both the courts and attorneys of this state. The trial court’s order should be reversed and the case remanded for further proceedings consistent with the rule requiring apportionment of liability in direct relation to the degree of fault.