Court rules contractor liable for own injury

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A Court of Appeals has ruled that although an excavating contractor cut his finger while trying to help a customer, that customer is not liable for the injury.

Mark Schultz, an excavation contractor based in Van Dyne, was hired to reconfigure a pond in 2013. While Schultz was working on the pond, the customer was cutting grass and weeds around it. The mower got stuck on the pond’s edge, getting lodged into a chunk of dirt, according to court documents.

Schultz saw the customer trying to free the mower and tried to help. After Schultz made some attempts to free the mower, it rolled backward and cut Schultz’s finger, which was later partially amputated, according to court documents.

Schultz sued the customer in Fond Lac County Circuit Court for negligence, claiming that the customer had caused his injury. But the circuit court ruled in favor of the customer, dismissing Schultz’s complaint, because it found that Schultz’s own actions, not the customer’s, caused the injury.

The District 2 Court of Appeals affirmed the circuit court’s ruling, noting that Schultz volunteered to help the customer and that the stuck mower posed no threat or emergency that compelled Schultz to take action.