Brunner v. Hutchinson Division, Lear-Siegler, Inc.

770 F. Supp. 517 (1991)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Jeremiah was approximately 70 percent permanently hearing impaired, and today he wears hearing aids. Jeremiah's mother, P, was ill and unable to care her son at that time, so the responsibility of supervising Jeremiah fell to Brad Brunner, who brought the boy to his truck and sat with him in the cab while augers were operating to load grain into the truck. Brad Brunner was under no time constraints to move the grain immediately. Brad Brunner found it necessary to leave the truck to inspect the operation of the augers. Before leaving he told the boy to stay in the truck, he locked the door of the truck and walked over to where the sweep auger was operating to determine that everything was operating properly. He lost visual sight with the boy, and when he regained that sight, he saw Jeremiah standing near the portable grain auger suffering from a traumatic amputation of the right hand. Jeremiah continues to live with his mother and father and two siblings on the farm near Vale. P sued D and D filed a third-party complaint against Brad Brunner. The third-party defendants then filed a motion for summary judgment alleging that D is barred by the doctrine of parental immunity from bringing a contribution claim against Jeremiah's father and his business partnership. D contends that South Dakota has never recognized the doctrine of parental immunity, and, to the contrary, has statutorily mandated access to the courts to all persons.