Court Opinion

ID: 9671101
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 03:30:56.731037+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:08.175559
License: Public Domain

DONALD W. STEINMETZ, J.
¶ 43. (dissenting). I agree with the majority that we should recognize a cause of action for negligent hiring, training, or supervision as a claim for relief in Wisconsin. I dissent, however, because I would hold that the tort of negligent hiring, training, or supervision should include, as a necessary element, an underlying tort committed by the employee.
¶ 44. Rather than requiring that the plaintiff prove that the employee committed an underlying tort, the majority concludes that an employer may be held liable for the negligent hiring, training, or supervision of an employee, if a plaintiff establishes that the employee committed an "underlying wrongful act." The majority does not cite to any legal authority that defines an "underlying wrongful act." The only guidance the majority provides is that a "wrongful act" is an act of the employee that is "contrary to a fundamental and well-defined public policy as evidenced by existing law." Majority op. at 263. This general and amorphous statement is no guidance at all for the litigants, attorneys, and courts to whom the majority has *276left the responsibility of defining this murky legal theory.
¶ 45. The majority's decision, unfortunately, is a perfect example of the maxim that "hard cases make bad law." This case could easily be decided by the straightforward application of well-established principles of tort law. The jury in this case rejected every underlying claim filed against the Wal-Mart employees who stopped and searched the plaintiff. Since the employee did not commit an underlying tort, the court should have simply reversed the judgment of the circuit court. The court, however, has taken it upon itself to craft a new, untested theory of law to allow this particular plaintiff to recover damages from the exonerated employee's employer. Relying solely on the employer immunity statute, Wis. Stat. § 943.50(3), the majority concludes that stopping someone without reasonable cause "is serious and it is wrong." Wal-Mart, the majority concludes, should not escape liability simply because its employee's underlying act is not an actionable tort. See majority op. at 264.
¶ 46. With this decision, the majority has departed from well-established principles of tort law. The majority's approach provides no meaningful guidance to litigants, attorneys, and courts as to how a "wrongful act" is to be determined, and its decision no doubt will open the courtroom doors to a flood of litigation. I refuse to follow the court down this path of uncertainty.
¶ 47. I am authorized to state that Justice Jon P. Wilcox joins this dissenting opinion.