Court Opinion

ID: 9715056
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 05:53:22.104375+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:31.047750
License: Public Domain

SCHUMACHER, Judge
(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent. Under the facts, the liability of the appellants should be aggregated because they are jointly liable as a matter of law.
Defendants’ fault is aggregated for purposes of the comparative fault law, Minn. Stat. § 604.02, subd. 1 (1998), when they are jointly liable. Krengel v. Midwest Automatic Photo, Inc., 295 Minn. 200, 208, 203 N.W.2d 841, 846 (1973). It commonly occurs when the defendants are engaged in a joint venture. Id. at 209, 203 N.W.2d at 847 (setting out elements of joint venture); see Walton v. Fujita Tourist Enters. Co., 380 N.W.2d 198, 201 (Minn.App.1986) (describing elements of joint enterprise), review denied (Minn. Mar. 21, 1986). Defendants may also be jointly liable under the “single indivisible injury rule,” when the independent acts of two or more persons cause harm to a third from “consecutive acts of negligence closely related in point of time and when the harm is incapable of division.” Canada v. McCarthy, 567 N.W.2d 496, 507 (Minn.1997) (citation omitted). Relevant to the facts here, an officer and a corporation may be jointly liable when the officer participates in the corporation’s tort. 3A William Meade Fletcher, et al., Fletcher Cyclopedia of the Law of Private Corporations § 1138 (perm. ed. rev.vol.1994); see 18B Am. Jur.2d Corporations § 2126 (1985) (stating that corporation and individual who corn-*630mit tortious act while acting for corporation are jointly liable).
In addressing the question of whether Dr. Greene and the corporations are jointly liable, the basis for Dr. Greene’s liability must be made clear. Generally, an officer of a corporation is shielded from liability for torts that the corporation or its employees committed. Avery v. Solargizer Int'l Inc., 427 N.W.2d 675, 681 (Minn.App.1988). One exception occurs when there is proof the corporate veil should be pierced, based on fraud or the officer’s use of the corporation as a mere “alter ego.” Victoria Elevator Co. v. Meriden Grain Co., 283 N.W.2d 509, 512 (Minn.1979). The district court ruled that there was no evidence the corporate veil should be pierced, and this determination is not challenged on appeal.
The other circumstance in which an officer may be individually liable arises when the officer personally takes part in the commission of the tort. Ellingson v. World Amusement Serv. Ass’n, 175 Minn. 563, 572, 222 N.W. 335, 339 (1928) (holding that officer of corporation not personally liable for negligent acts corporation commits, but is liable for officer’s own acts of negligence); Stelling v. Hanson Silo Co., 563 N.W.2d 286, 290 n. 4 (Minn.App.1997) (noting that officer may be liable if he personally participates in the tort, but not addressing whether officer and corporation would be jointly liable in those circumstances). The jury here determined that Dr. Greene was negligent, and he does not challenge this finding on appeal.
Where the jury found that Dr. Greene and his corporations were negligent, and where Dr. Greene individually participated in the corporations’ negligent acts, Dr. Greene and the corporations should be held jointly liable. See Fletcher, supra § 1138; Am.Jur.2d, supra, § 2126. Under these circumstances, their negligence should be aggregated based on their joint liability. I would affirm.