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Doctor v. Pardue9/15/2005
institution owes a duty of care to another and, as a result of carrying on its activities through agents whether the enterprise or activity involves financial gain or not and no matter how lofty the purpose or motive, injures another either directly or through agents the breach of duty ought not be excused or justified on the grounds of the laudable purpose or the public benefit of the activity causing the injury. . . . Certainly institutions teaching divine justice, the dignity of man and his obligations to his fellowmen and to his Creator would not claim on the basis of their teachings that they ought to be exempt from repairing the injury done by themselves or their agents to another.
Id. at 254; see also Kojis v. Doctors Hosp., 107 N.W.2d 131, 133--34 (Wis. 1961) (stating that charitable hospitals are no longer civilly immune because they are now "larger in size, better endowed, and on more sound economic basis" and that "insurance covering their liability is available and prudent management would dictate that such protection be purchased"). However, following the elimination of common-law charitable immunity in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Legislature did not enact laws, similar to those enacted in Texas, insulating charities from liability for injuries arising out of the performance of charitable services.
With these policy considerations in mind, we note that the injury and the conduct occurred in Wisconsin, where EAA is incorporated and maintains its only offices. Also, although EAA maintains contacts with Texas sufficient to support a finding of general jurisdiction, none of its Texas contacts were related to the aircraft collision in this case. We thus conclude that Wisconsin has the dominant public policy interest in determining whether EAA, a not-for-profit charitable organization incorporated under the laws of Wisconsin, should be held immune from tort liability for the collision that occurred in Wisconsin. Applying the protections afforded in the Act to EAA for liability arising from the activities it conducted exclusively in Wisconsin would be contrary to the policy of Wisconsin. Wisconsin has expressly stated its policy that charities conducting activities which cause injuries should generally not be immune from liability for those injuries. As for the relevant policies of Texas, we note that although the Act is not expressly limited to organizations incorporated in Texas, the express purpose of the Act is to encourage charitable organizations to perform charitable services "within Texas." Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. ยง 84.002(1). Thus, the purposes sought to be achieved by the Act would not be furthered by applying the Act to protect EAA, a Wisconsin-based charitable organization, from liability arising out of a charitable event that it conducted in Wisconsin.
We also note that EAA could have no justified expectation that it would be entitled to the protections afforded under the Act for liability arising out of its Wisconsin air show. The record indicates that volunteers from all over the country participated in the EAA convention and air show, and any expectation by EAA that it might be immune from liability for injuries sustained to participants, depending upon the residence of the participants who were injured, would be unreasonable. Had a Wisconsin resident, or a resident of another State without charitable immunity protections similar to those available in Texas, been injured, EAA would not have any claim to charitable immunity.
Finally, in regard to whether the application of Wisconsin law furthers the interests of certainty, predictability, and uniformity of result, we note that these interests are important when a party is likely to give adva
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