Broadbent by Broadbent v. Broadbent
Supreme Court of Arizona
184 Ariz. 74 (1995)
Relevant factsFree
A mother (defendant) briefly left her two-and-a-half-year-old son (plaintiff) unattended near the family pool to answer the phone, and returned to find him at the bottom of the pool; he was revived but suffered severe brain damage. His father sued on his behalf, defended by the mother's insurer, but the trial court dismissed the case under the doctrine of parental immunity, and the court of appeals affirmed.
IssueFree
Whether Arizona courts should continue applying the doctrine of parental immunity, or instead judge a parent's tort liability toward a child by how a reasonable and prudent parent would have acted in a similar situation.