Lamprecht v. Schluntz
Nebraska Supreme Court
870 N.W.2d 646 (2015)
While Brent and Gerald Schluntz (defendants) were harvesting wheat, Brent saw a flash under their tractor that ignited a fire spreading quickly onto neighboring farmers Arthur and Linda Lamprecht's (plaintiffs) property, causing damage. Brent later found a burnt wire under the tractor and the Schluntzes suspected, without certainty, that an electrical short in the tractor caused the fire. The Lamprechts sued on a res ipsa loquitur theory, and the trial court granted the Schluntzes summary judgment; the Lamprechts appealed.
Whether a plaintiff relying on res ipsa loquitur must show that the occurrence would not normally happen absent negligence, that the instrumentality causing it was under the defendant's exclusive control, and that the defendant lacks an explanation for it.