Court Opinion

ID: 9848118
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 04:13:08.552706+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:18:02.685180
License: Public Domain

*851UHLENHOPP, Justice
(dissenting).
In Goetzman we adopted “pure” comparative negligence — “proportionate responsibility for fault”. 327 N.W.2d at 754. Applying that concept when the incident involves two actors but not applying it when the incident involves more than two actors seems fundamentally incongruous to me. Why should any of the actors be responsible for more than his or her share of the blame?
I realize that variations may occur as, for example, where one of the actors has no underlying liability at all because of absolute immunity. But the present incident is a simple case of three actors without immunities, and I would apply “proportionate responsibility for fault” to all of them.
Joint and several liability for all the damage was a judge-made concept to begin with. Judges can modify it for comparative negligence cases as they modified it in cases of a release of a joint tortfeasor and contribution between joint tortfeasors. Community School District of Postville v. Gordon E. Peterson, Inc., 176 N.W.2d 169 (Iowa 1970); Best v. Yerkes, 247 Iowa 800, 77 N.W.2d 23 (1956).
As actor A (plaintiff Rozevink) was guilty of no fault which brought about the damages, she should bear no responsibility for the damages; as actor B (defendant Gayle Faris) was guilty of 17% of the fault which brought about the damage, she (and James Faris) should bear 17% of the responsibility for the damages; and as actor C (defendant Mundell) was guilty of 83% of the fault which brought about the damage, he (and defendant Freese) should bear 83% of the responsibility for the damages. I would reverse for a substituted judgment accordingly.
REYNOLDSON, C.J., joins in this dissent.