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Doctor v. Pardue9/15/2005
Appellants, Laird Doctor ("Lad") and Linda Doctor, challenge the trial court's judgment entered after a jury trial in their negligence suit against appellees, Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. ("EAA") and Howard Pardue, for personal injuries that Lad sustained in an airplane collision that occurred in Wisconsin. The Doctors present six issues for our review, seeking a reversal of the trial court's judgment, which ordered that they recover $500,000 from EAA and take nothing from Pardue. The Doctors contend that the trial court erred in concluding that Texas was the state with the most significant relationship to the issue of charitable immunity and in applying the Texas Charitable Immunity and Liability Act (the "Act") to limit their award against EAA and to completely immunize Pardue. The Doctors also contend that the evidence is factually insufficient to support the jury's findings of zero damages for Lad's past and future physical pain and mental anguish, past and future disfigurement, and past and future physical impairment; zero damages for Lad's past medical expenses; $2.5 million in damages for Lad's future medical expenses; zero damages for Linda's past loss of consortium; and $50,000 for Linda's future loss of consortium.
We reverse and remand for a new trial.
Factual and Procedural Background
EAA, a not-for-profit charitable corporation incorporated under the laws of Wisconsin, maintains its principal place of business in Wisconsin. Although it is not registered to do business in Texas, EAA is subject to the general jurisdiction of Texas courts. EAA is an organization dedicated to preserving the grassroots aspect of aviation and encouraging families and children to become interested in aviation. It assists governmental agencies in the development of aviation activities and promotes and encourages aviation safety, aviation research and development, and non-commercial aviation. Every year, EAA hosts a convention and sponsors an air show, known as "AirVenture," in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
In July 1999, Lad was rendered a quadriplegic at the air show when the vintage World War II Corsair aircraft that he was piloting collided on the runway with another aircraft piloted by Pardue. At the time of the collision, Lad was working as a professional pilot and an employee of the Corsair's owner, the Cavanaugh Flight Museum ("CFM"), located in Addison, Texas. Pardue was piloting an aircraft owned by the Breckenridge Air Museum ("BAM"), a charitable organization located in Breckenridge, Texas, and he was serving as a BAM volunteer. Lad and Pardue, both Texas residents, attended the air show in Wisconsin to exhibit the aircrafts on behalf of their respective organizations.
The Doctors sued EAA and Pardue for negligence, seeking damages "under the laws of the State of Texas." EAA filed a motion for partial summary judgment seeking a ruling that, based on the Act, its liability to the Doctors was limited to $500,000. Pardue also filed a motion for partial summary judgment seeking a ruling that, based on the Act, as a volunteer he was entitled to absolute immunity from liability for the Doctors' injuries. The Doctors then filed an amended petition asserting that Wisconsin law should govern the issue of charitable immunity. EAA and Pardue also filed pretrial motions for determination of applicable law, arguing that Texas law should govern and that the Act should apply. The trial court carried these motions through trial.
The jury, finding that the negligence of EAA, Pardue, and Lad proximately caused the collision, attributed 25% of the negligence to EAA, 25% of the negligence to Pardue, and 50% of the negligence to Lad. The jury awarded z
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