Court Opinion

ID: 9579779
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:58:30.596885+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:35:45.706247
License: Public Domain

ANDERSON, P. J.
(dissenting). Because I conclude that the general allegations of negligence and violation of the safe place statute fail to fairly state a claim or claims upon which relief can be granted, I respectfully dissent.
*615This case is before us on an appeal from an order granting summary judgment. In reviewing this order de novo, the court of appeals employs the same process used by the circuit court. The first step in this process is to examine the complaint to determine whether a claim has been stated. Grams v. Boss, 97 Wis. 2d 332, 338, 294 N.W.2d 473, 476-77 (1980).
Under Wisconsin's Rules of Civil Procedure "notice pleading" is sufficient.1 In determining whether a complaint meets minimum standards, there are several propositions that must be kept in mind. First, the complaint must be "liberally construed with a view to substantial justice to the parties." Id. at 351, 294 N.W.2d at 483. Second, Wisconsin's "notice pleading" statutes " 'reject the approach that pleading is a game of skill in which one misstep by counsel may be decisive in the outcome, and accept the principle that the purpose of pleading is to facilitate a proper decision on the merits.'" Canadian Pac. Ltd. v. Omark-Prentice Hydraulics, Inc., 86 Wis. 2d 369, 373, 272 N.W.2d 407, 409 (Ct. App. 1978) (quoting Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 48 (1957)). Third, "[i]f 'notice pleading' is to have any efficacy at all, a pleading must give the defending party fair notice of not only the plaintiffs claim but 'the grounds upon which it rests' as well." Hlavinka v. Blunt, Ellis & Loewi, Inc., 174 Wis. 2d 381, 403, 497 *616N.W.2d 756, 765 (Ct. App. 1993) (quoting Conley, 355 U.S. at 47).
The operative paragraphs of Kaskowski and Nyman's complaint allege:
5. On August 24, 1990, both plaintiffs were attending motor bike races at Lake Geneva Raceway when one of the motor bikes engaged in a race, left the racetrack and struck both plaintiffs; that both plaintiffs were injured as a result of being hit by the motor bike and this striking was due to the negligence of the defendant, Great Lakes Raceway Inc., the owner of the premises where the incident occurred.
6. Asa result of the negligence of defendant, Lake Geneva Raceway Inc., through its agents, servants and employees, both plaintiffs sustained permanent injuries and damages ....
SAFE PLACE ALLEGATIONS
1. [Allegation that Lake Geneva Raceway, Inc. was the owner of a place of employment, § 101.01, STATS.; an employer, § 101.01; and the Lake Geneva Raceway was a place of employment and public building.]
2. The defendant, Lake Geneva Raceway Inc. . . . was negligent and violated section 101.11 of the Wisconsin Statutes in the following respects:
a. On or about the 24th day of August, 1990, the plaintiffs, and each of them, sustained injuries on the premises owned, operated and controlled as a public building, and a place of employment.. ..
b. That at the time of their injury, the plaintiffs were frequenters and patrons on the premises of the defendant....
*617c. ... [T]he premises owned, operated, maintained and controlled as a place of employment and as a public building was unsafe and in a dangerous condition; the defendant knew or should have known of the dangerous and unsafe condition; the defendant failed to furnish a place of employment and a public building which was safe for employees therein and for frequenters thereof, failed to adopt and use methods and processes reasonably adequate to render such employment and place of employment and public building safe, and failed to do every other thing reasonably necessary to protect the life, health, safety and welfare of such employees and frequenters, and failed to construct, repair and/or maintain such place of employment or public building as to render same safe; the said defendant had custody and control prior to and on or about the 24th day of August, 1990, of the premises; and the said defendant had sufficient time to correct such unsafe and dangerous condition.
Both the negligence claim and the safe-place claim are conclusory in nature. Neither claim puts Lake Geneva Raceway on notice as to how it was negligent or how it violated the safe-place statute.
"Notice pleading" does not permit a plaintiff to allege negligence in such a general fashion. "In order to state a cause of action for negligence, the following elements must be pleaded: (1) A duty of care on the part of the defendant; (2) a breach of that duty; (3) a causal connection between the conduct and the injury; and (4) an actual loss or damage as a result of the injury." Keller v. Welles Dep't Store, 88 Wis. 2d 24, 34, 276 N.W.2d 319, 323 (Ct. App. 1979) (quoted source omitted).
*618Before Wisconsin adopted "notice pleading," the supreme court had related what was necessary to state a claim for a cause of action:
In pleading negligence and in setting forth the facts which are alleged to constitute negligence, only ultimate, not evidentiary facts, are to be pleaded; and if the pleading fairly informs the opposite party of what he is called upon to meet by alleging the specific facts which resulted in injury, and there is included a general statement that defendant negligently performed the acts complained of, the pleadings are sufficient. However, a complaint must still allege acts sufficient to show an invasion of some protected interest to state a cause of action. A complaint may fairly inform an opposite party what he is called upon to meet and yet not state a cause of action....
Facts from which plaintiffs primary right and defendant's corresponding duty arise, must appear in the statement of facts of the complaint in a personal injury action, together with facts showing a wrong by the defendant. [Citations omitted.]
Padilla v. Bydalek, 56 Wis. 2d 772, 775-76, 203 N.W.2d 15, 18 (1973). The statutory requirement that the complaint contain "a short and plain statement of the claim," identifying the occurrence or series of occurrences out of which the claim arises does not relieve a party from the minimum standard of Padilla.
Kaskowski and Nyman's allegation of negligence is general in nature. The complaint fails to inform the reader of Lake Geneva's duty of care toward Kaskowski and Nyman, it fails to inform the reader of how that duty of care was breached and it fails to inform the reader of the casual connection between Lake Geneva's conduct and the injuries suffered by Kaskowski and Nyman. At the most, it informs the reader that a motor *619bike left the raceway and struck Kaskowski and Nyman. Other than alleging that Lake Geneva owned the raceway, the complaint fails to shed any light on what duty or duties Lake Geneva may have had to protect patrons and how Lake Geneva breached that duty or duties in this particular instance.
Unlike the majority, I am unwilling to read the negligence claim and the safe-place claim together and find reasonable inferences that support a conclusion that the complaint is sufficient. Not only does the complaint fail because it does not allege the four elements of negligence, it also fails because the safe-place allegation is nothing more than a recapitulation of the safe-place statute.2 I am left with the nagging question of how did Lake Geneva fail to provide a safe place?
*620The safe-place allegation fails because "notice pleading" does not give a plaintiff the privilege to plead mere allegations that the defendant violated the safe-place statute. See Klebanow v. New York Produce Exch., 344 F.2d 294, 299 (2d Cir. 1965) (holding that a mere allegation that a defendant violated antitrust laws is insufficient to state a claim for damages under federal pleading rule); Precision Universal Joint Corp. v. Republic Parts, Inc., 83 F.R.D. 14, 16 (N.D. Ill. 1978). As drafted, the complaint does not provide even a trifling clue as to what action or inaction by Lake Geneva contributed to a violation of the safe-place statute. A mere allegation that Lake Geneva violated the safe-place statute as to Kaskowski and Nyman no more complies with the requirements of § 802.02(1), STATS., than a "complaint that merely alleged that 'a defendant owns a car and injured plaintiff by driving it negligently.' " Hlavinka, 174 Wis. 2d at 404, 497 N.W.2d at 765 (quoting Klebanow, 344 F.2d at 299).
I am mindful that discovery is available to a defendant to fill in the gaps of a bare-bones complaint. However, the over generalized allegations of Kaskow-ski and Nyman prevent meaningful discovery because Lake Geneva would have to first discover (1) the specific duty of care it owed Kaskowski and Nyman; (2) how it breached that duty; and (3) a causal connection between the conduct and the injuries before seeking to discover the evidence supporting the allegations. Rather than eliminate trial by ambush, the complaint of Kaskowski and Nyman raises it to a new art form.
I am mindful that "notice pleading" is preferable to the formal pleading requirements of years gone by. Despite the fact that the courts are now interested in *621the pursuit of justice rather than the quest for rigidity, I am satisfied that the complaint in this action is too general to state any claim for relief. Rather than engage in an educated guess as to what the drafter of the complaint meant to allege, we should hold the drafter to a requirement that in order to state a claim for relief the complaint must contain a short and concise statement of the grounds for the plaintiffs claim. I do not want to return to the verbose formality of yesteryear, but I do want to be able to read a negligence complaint and know that a plaintiff alleges he or she was injured because a defendant failed to provide adequate guards to prevent motor bikes from leaving the racetrack and striking spectators.

 Section 802.02, STATS., provides, in part:
General rules of pleading. (1) Contents of pleadings. A pleading . . . that sets forth a claim for relief. . . shall contain all of the following:
(a) A short and plain statement of the claim, identifying the transaction or occurrence or series of transactions or occurrences out of which the claim arises and showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.

 The pertinent portions of the safe-place statute provide:
101.11 Employer's duty to furnish safe employment and place. (1) Every employer shall furnish employment which shall be safe for the employes therein and shall furnish a place of employment which shall be safe for employes therein and for frequenters thereof and shall furnish and use safety devices and safeguards, and shall adopt and use methods and processes reasonably adequate to render such employment and places of employment safe, and shall do every other thing reasonably necessary to protect the life, health, safety, and welfare of such employes and frequenters. Every employer and every owner of a place of employment or a public building now or hereafter constructed shall so construct, repair or maintain such place of employment or public building as to render the same safe.
(2) (a) No employer shall require, permit or suffer any employe to go or be in any employment or place of employment which is not safe, and no such employer shall fail to furnish, provide and use safety devices and safeguards, or fail to adopt and use methods and processes reasonably adequate to render such employment and place of employment safe, and no such employer shall fail or neglect to do every other thing reasonably necessary to protect the life, health, safety or welfare of such employes and frequenters; and no employer or owner, or other person shall hereafter construct or occupy or maintain any place of employment, or *620public building, that is not safe, nor prepare plans which shall fail to provide for making the same safe.