Torts Wrongful death; abandonment Erik Affolter appeals a summary judgment dismissing his wrongful death claim against American Family Mutual Insurance Company. Affolter sought to recover damages for loss of society and companionship stemming from the death of his son, Zackary Cole Lyrek. The circuit court concluded Affolter was not entitled to assert a wrongful death claim because he was estranged ...

Employment Unemployment compensation Kristin B. Grall, pro se, appeals from an order of the circuit court, which affirmed the decision of the Labor and Industry Review Commission. Grall primarily contends that she should have been allowed to adjourn her unemployment compensation appeal hearing so that she could subpoena additional witnesses. We affirm. This opinion shall not be published. 2010AP465 Grall ...

Contracts Equitable estoppel Richard and Marilyn Young appeal a small claims judgment awarded to Cardiovascular Associates of Northern WI, SC, for the cost of medical services rendered to Richard. The Youngs argue the circuit court erred by granting the judgment because Cardiovascular Associates is equitably estopped from seeking payment from them. We disagree and affirm. This opinion will not be ...

Torts Nuisance A jury’s finding that the plaintiff suffered $2.1 million in damages is inconsistent with a finding that it did not suffer significant harm. “As a matter of law, the jury could not conclude that the harm was insignificant having also concluded that the District’s negligence interfered with Bostco’s use and enjoyment of its property to such an extent ...

Employment Worker’s compensation An employee who receives worker’s compensation benefits waives his or her unilateral right to a jury trial in a related third-party tort action. “Ultimately, Bergren held that Wis. Stat. § 102.29(1) ‘gives the trial court the right to settle a dispute between the two plaintiffs, as to whether or not a compromise settlement offered by the defendant ...

Dealerships Termination Where an auto dealer’s sales were subpar and it did not spend what it was required to spend on promotion, the Division of Hearings and Appeals properly held that its termination was not unlawful. “[T]he Division found that Gentile Nissan significantly lagged in regional sales effectiveness, even though the metric combined the dealer’s sales within and outside its ...

Civil Procedure Sanctions Where the Court of Appeals orders that sanctions be imposed, the prevailing party need not bring a motion in the circuit court to enforce it. “Morters does not modify the procedure under Wis. Stat. § 806.16, which, as Schapiro acknowledges, on its face allowed the trial court to enter judgment regarding our December 2009 judgment in this ...

Civil Procedure Jury instructions; waiver The defendants waived their objections to the jury instructions by failing to raise them. “The error in the jury instruction is simply a trial error that the defendants could have challenged on the merits, but they failed to do so at any appropriate point in time. At trial, the defendants agreed to the instruction, and ...

Torts Subrogation; collateral source rule The collateral source rule does not entitle plaintiffs to recover the value of their insurer’s subrogation claim, when the insurer lost at arbitration. “In the present case, the arbitration panel found (and the insurers agreed) that the defendant was not causally negligent, and in the context of that finding the tortfeasor did not have to ...

Civil Procedure Attorney disqualification; standing A non-client party may establish standing to disqualify an attorney when prior representation is so connected with the current litigation that the prior representation is likely to affect the just and lawful determination of the non-client party’s position; but appearance of impropriety is too low a standard to meet for disqualification. “We conclude that Bishop’s ...

Insurance Automobile policies; negligent entrustment An insurer is not liable for its insureds’ negligent entrustment of a vehicle if the driver was not negligent in his operation of the vehicle. “Bankert and Malone teach us that there is no coverage for Koehler’s alleged negligent entrustment of the vehicle to Raddatz because that act is not an independent concurrent cause of ...

Constitutional Law Cruel and Unusual Punishment A court-mandated population limit is necessary to remedy the violation of prisoners’ constitutional rights and is authorized by the PLRA. The evidence supports the three-judge court’s finding that “no other relief [would] remedy the violation,” §3626(a)(3)(E)(ii). The State’s claim that out-of-state transfers provide a less restrictive alternative to a population limit must fail because ...