White v. Lunder

Rosemary White was injured boating with her husband Lloyd (plaintiff) and Lunder (defendant); the jury apportioned causal negligence 30 percent to Rosemary, 33 percent to Lloyd, and 37 percent to Lunder. Under Wisconsin's comparative-negligence statute, a plaintiff is barred from recovery only if his own negligence equals or exceeds the defendant's, with damages otherwise reduced proportionally. The trial court combined Lloyd's and Rosemary's negligence into a single 63 percent attributed to Lloyd, exceeding Lunder's 37 percent, and on that basis barred Lloyd's recovery entirely; Lloyd appealed.

Whether, when an accident is caused by a married couple and a third party, the spouses' individual percentages of causal negligence should be combined for purposes of applying comparative-negligence principles to either spouse's claim.