Court Opinion

ID: 9526822
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 03:24:41.655966+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:22:23.538043
License: Public Domain

DIANE S. SYKES, J.
¶ 25. (dissenting). The facts of this case fall well within the so-called "firefighter's rule," which this court first recognized as a function of Wisconsin's public policy limitations on tort liability in Hass v. Chicago & North Western Railway, 48 Wis. 2d 321, 179 N.W.2d 885 (1970), and recently extended to emergency medical technicians in Pinter v. American Family Mut. Ins. Co., 2000 WI 75, 236 Wis. 2d 137, 613 N.W.2d 110. Hass held that "one who negligently starts a fire is not liable for that negligence when it causes injury to a firefighter who comes to extinguish the blaze." Hass, 48 Wis. 2d at 327. The court concluded that to impose liability for the act of negligence which occasioned the need for the firefighter's services — the negligence "in starting a fire and failing to curtail its spread" — would impose too great a burden on the property owner and "would permit the law of negligence to 'enter a field that has no sensible or just stopping point.'" Id. (quoting Colla v. Mandella, 1 Wis. 2d 594, 598-99, 85 N.W.2d 345 (1957)).
¶ 26. More recently, in Pinter, this court extended the "firefighter's rule" of Hass to emergency medical technicians, precluding liability on public policy *558grounds against a motorist for negligently causing a collision to which the EMT responded and sustained injury while rendering emergency services at the accident scene. Pinter, 236 Wis. 2d 137, ¶ 48. We stated in Pinter that "[fundamentally, the. rule recognized in Hass is an expression of public policy because it prohibits a firefighter from complaining about the negligence that creates the very need for his or her employment." Id., ¶ 39 (citation omitted.) We emphasized that "[p]er-mitting firefighters to pursue actions like the one in Hass is . . . not consistent with the relationship of the fire fighting profession to the public. . . It would contravene public policy to permit a firefighter to recover damages from an individual who has already been taxed to provide compensation to injured firefighters." Id.
¶ 27. This court observed in Pinter that EMTs, like firefighters, "know that they will be expected to provide aid and protection to others in these hazardous circumstances" and "have special training and experience that prepare them to provide assistance under dangerous emergency conditions." Id., ¶ 43. Noting that "an automobile collision is equivalent to a fire under the public policy analysis in Hass," we concluded:
In sum, we can find no logical reason that the public policy analysis set forth in Hass should not extend to Pinter's cause of action. Instead, we conclude that public policy bars Pinter's recovery. In the same way that allowing a firefighter to recover in Hass would have placed an unreasonable burden on the railroad company that negligently caused the fire, permitting an EMT to recover under the circumstances alleged by Pinter would place an unreasonable burden on drivers who negligently cause collisions.... Permitting Pipter's action to proceed would enter a field with no sensible or just stopping point.
*559Id., ¶¶ 46-47.
¶ 28. We were careful to emphasize in Pinter that "our public policy analysis is based on the fact that the only negligence Pinter complains of is the same negligence that caused the initial emergency and resulted in rescue personnel being called to the scene" and that "Hass would not bar Pinter's cause of action if Pinter sought recovery on the basis of some act or omission other than the initial negligence that necessitated emergency medical assistance," that is, on some "secondary or aggravating negligence." Id., ¶¶ 50, 48.
¶ 29. I do not disagree that the Hass rule was "narrowly drawn." Majority op., ¶ 7. In my view, however, Pinter's analysis of the "firefighter's rule" of Hass, which in essence is a particularized application of public policy limitations on tort liability, controls this case. I do not share the court's view that "[t]here are many differences between firefighters and police officers" which distinguish this case from Hass and its underlying public policy rationale. Majority op., ¶ 18. Police officers, like firefighters and EMTs, are expected to provide aid and protection to the public in dangerous situations, and are trained and experienced emergency responders.
¶ 30. To allow tort recovery for the acts of negligence which caused the need for a police officer's services in the first place — as opposed to some secondary or aggravating act of negligence — would place too great a burden on members of the public who are entitled to rely on police protection, and would enter a field in which there is no just stopping point. Here, Officer Cole seeks to hold the dog owners liable for the risks associated with their dog running at large, that is, for the negligence that precipitated the need for the officer's assistance, rather than any collateral act of *560negligence. The officer's duty required her to respond and attempt to remedy the danger. Pursuant to Hass and Pinter, public policy therefore precludes the officer from recovering tort damages against the members of the public whose negligence created the need for that response. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.