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COURT OF APPEALS DECISION DATED AND RELEASED JUNE 18, 1996 |
NOTICE |
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A party may file with the
Supreme Court a petition to review an adverse decision by the Court of
Appeals. See § 808.10 and
Rule 809.62, Stats. |
This opinion is subject to
further editing. If published, the
official version will appear in the bound volume of the Official Reports. |
No. 95-3107-FT
STATE
OF WISCONSIN IN COURT OF
APPEALS
DISTRICT III
ALICE H. THOMPSON,
F/K/A ALICE T. MORRIS,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
WISCONSIN COUNTY
MUTUAL
INSURANCE CORPORATION,
a Wisconsin
Corporation,
THE PRUDENTIAL
INSURANCE
COMPANY OF AMERICA,
a Foreign Corporation,
STATE OF WISCONSIN,
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE,
COLE O. KUEHL, an
Individual
and KEWAUNEE COUNTY,
Defendants,
HERITAGE MUTUAL
INSURANCE COMPANY,
a Wisconsin
Corporation AND
JAY BLAHNIK, D/B/A
ALGOMA AUTO WORKS,
Defendants-Respondents.
APPEAL from a judgment
of the circuit court for Kewaunee County:
JOHN D. KOEHN, Judge. Affirmed.
Before Cane, P.J.,
LaRocque and Myse, JJ.
PER
CURIAM. Alice Thompson appeals a summary judgment that
dismissed her tort lawsuit for negligent hiring of an employee against Jay
Blahnik and his liability insurer, Heritage Mutual Insurance Company.[1] Her lawsuit sought damages against Blahnik
for the burglary and sexual assault Matthew Dirden committed in her home. Dirden learned of her residence while
allegedly working as a mechanic at Blahnik's auto repair shop, where Thompson's
car was awaiting repairs. Thompson
claimed that Blahnik negligently hired someone of Dirden's character and
negligently gave Dirden access to Thompson's address. The trial court ruled that Dirden was not an employee and that
Blahnik could not have foreseen Dirden's crimes. The trial court correctly granted summary judgment if Blahnik
showed no dispute of material fact and a right to judgment as a matter of
law. Powalka v. State Mut. Life
Assurance Co., 53 Wis.2d 513, 518, 192 N.W.2d 852, 854 (1972). We reject Thompson's arguments and affirm
the summary judgment.
Even if we assume
arguendo that Dirden qualified as Blahnik's employee, which we do not decide,
Thompson has proposed a cause of action that violates fundamental principles of
Wisconsin tort law. Wisconsin has not
recognized a cause of action for negligent hiring, at least concerning the
hiring of nonfiduciary employees or other employees whose services endear no
fiduciary-like trust from customers in the sense that those of therapists or
clergy might generate. An auto
mechanic's services occasion no fiduciary-like trust or equivalent reposing of
faith. Moreover, holding Blahnik liable
for Dirden's rape and burglary would make poor public policy. It would impose liability disproportionate
to Blahnik's culpability, levy too great a burden on the tortfeasor, compensate
for an injury that was remote from Blahnik's alleged negligence, and would put
Wisconsin tort law and the judiciary into a field with no apparent stopping
point. See Coffey v. City
of Milwaukee, 74 Wis.2d 526, 541, 247 N.W.2d 132, 140 (1976). Wisconsin will not recognize causes of
action under such circumstances. In
sum, the trial court correctly granted summary judgment.
By the Court.—Judgment
affirmed.
This opinion will not be
published. See Rule 809.23(1)(b)5, Stats.