Rabideau v. City of Racine case brief

Rabideau v. City of Racine case brief summary
627 N.W.2d 795 (Wis. 2001)

SYNOPSIS: Plaintiff dog owner appealed a decision of the Court of Appeals (Wisconsin) affirming the trial court's grant of summary judgment for defendant city as to dog owner's claims to recover for the emotional distress that she suffered when she witnessed her dog being shot and killed by a city police officer.

OVERVIEW: Dog owner contended that the trial court erred by granting summary judgment for city on her claims of negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress and that her complaint encompassed a claim for damages for property loss.

HOLDING:
-The supreme court affirmed in part and reversed in part the decision of the appellate court, remanding the case to the trial court for further proceedings.
-In order to maintain a claim of negligent infliction of emotional distress, the plaintiff had to be related to the victim as spouse, parent-child, grandparent-grandchild, or sibling.

ANALYSIS:
Also, while the law classified a dog as personal property, dog owner could not have maintained a claim for recovery for the emotional distress caused by negligent damage to her property. There was no evidence that the officer had acted with the intent to cause emotional distress to dog owner, such that summary judgment was properly granted for city on the claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress. Dog owner's complaint, liberally construed, encompassed a demand for damages for property loss.

RULES:
As a predicate matter to bringing a claim for damages based upon the tort of negligent infliction of emotional distress the plaintiff must be related to the victim as spouse, parent-child, grandparent-grandchild, or sibling.

OUTCOME: The appellate court's decision affirming the trial court's grant of summary judgment for city was affirmed in part and reversed in part. The case was remanded to the trial court.

---
Interested in learning how to get the top grades in your law school classes? Want to learn how to study smarter than your competition? Interested in transferring to a high ranked school?


-->