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Pinter v. American Family Mutual Ins. Co.6/30/2000
ogated plaintiff in Pinter's complaint.
. The defendants filed motions for summary judgment arguing that Pinter's action against the negligent drivers was barred by Hass and by public policy considerations. Hass holds 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 circuit court concluded that the reasoning of Hass applied equally to Pinter's cause of action. The court indicated that if Pinter's claims against the drivers were based at least in part on separate acts of negligence (that is, negligence besides the negligent driving that caused the collision) then the claims could proceed. However, Pinter conceded that his claims were based solely on the negligent driving that caused the collision. The court therefore dismissed Pinter's claims with prejudice.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
. Pinter appeals from the circuit court's grant of summary judgment to the defendants-respondents. We review a grant of summary judgment independently, using the same method as the circuit court. Sawyer, 227 Wis. 2d at 135. Summary judgment will be granted only when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Id. at 136 (quoting Schuster v. Altenberg, 144 Wis. 2d 223, 424 N.W.2d 159 (1988)).
. Summary judgment was granted in this case in reliance on Hass, which establishes a public policy limitation on liability. Whether public policy considerations preclude a particular cause of action is a question of law, to be determined solely by the court. Hass, 48 Wis. 2d at 326. Although it is often better to examine such public policy considerations after the facts have been resolved by trial, there are cases in which the public policy question is fully presented by the pleadings. Id. at 326-27. This is such a case.
ANALYSIS
. Most jurisdictions in the United States limit liability in negligence cases under a theory of law commonly termed the "firefighter's rule." As applied to firefighters, the rule limits a firefighter's ability to recover damages for injuries sustained while performing his or her duties as a firefighter. In many jurisdictions this rule was originally based on the reasoning that a firefighter who enters premises to fight a fire is a licensee to whom the owner or occupier of the premises owes no duty except to refrain from willful or wanton injury . As the categories of "invitee" and "licensee" gradually have been abolished in tort law, some courts turned to the doctrine of assumption of risk to support the rule. These courts reasoned that "'one who has knowingly and voluntarily confronted a hazard cannot recover for injuries sustained thereby.'" Thomas v. Pang, 811 P.2d 821, 824 (Haw. 1991)(quoting Walters v. Sloan, 571 P.2d 609, 612 (Cal. 1977), abrogated in part by Neighbarger v. Irwin Indus., Inc., 882 P.2d 347 (Cal. 1994) and superseded in part by statute in Cal. Civil Code ยง 1714.9 (West 1999)).
. More recently, most courts adopting or adhering to the firefighter's rule have justified the rule on public policy grounds. Thomas, 811 P.2d at 824. Thirty years ago, public policy led this court to recognize a limitation on liability in a firefighter's negligence action in Hass. Hass, 48 Wis. 2d at 326-27.
. In Wisconsin, even when negligent conduct was a substantial factor in causing an injury , public policy considerations may preclude the injured party from pursuing a cause of action. Hass, 48 Wis. 2d at 326. Recovery may be denied when:
" he injury is too remote from the negligence or too 'wholly out o
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