Edward T. Fairchild

This case concerns a claim arising from alleged conduct that interfered with a marital relationship while a divorce action was pending between the spouses. The plaintiff filed the action within one year of the events, but the defendant demurred, arguing the claim was untimely or that no cause existed due to the separation. The court reasoned that marital status persists until formally terminated by a divorce judgment, and the pleadings allowed for the possibility that the couple might reconcile, making the timing appropriate under the limitation period. The trial court overruled the demurrer, and the appellate court affirmed that order.

family lawproceduretorts & liability

This case arose from a fatal car accident in which a guest passenger, Gary Paul, was killed when the driver, Gerald Hodd, lost control of the vehicle on a slippery road while attempting to pass another car. The jury found Hodd causally negligent in his management and control of the car and in failing to exercise the driving skill he possessed, rejecting arguments that the accident was unavoidable due to skidding or that the guest assumed the risk. The court held that credible evidence supported the jury's liability findings and that the trial court properly refused to submit an assumption-of-risk question. On damages, however, the court determined that the award for loss of services was excessive and reduced it from $6,400 to $1,716, ordering a new trial on damages unless the plaintiffs stipulated to the lower amount.

torts & liabilityprocedure

This case arose from a car accident in which driver Bryle Burnette sped through a dead-end intersection without stopping at an arterial sign and struck a telephone pole and guy wire, injuring passenger Agatha Leiterman. The plaintiffs requested special verdict questions on management and control due to untimely speed reduction and failure to stop at the sign, but the trial court omitted them, submitting only speed and lookout instead; the jury found Burnette negligent as to speed (causal) but not lookout, and found Leiterman assumed the risk and was also negligent. The Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed the resulting judgment, holding that management and control was not a separate issue because Burnette braked upon seeing the danger and that undisputed facts plus the jury findings on speed and lookout resolved the case without need for additional questions.

torts & liabilityprocedure

This case concerned a trust created in 1928 by Julia G. Boyle, which provided income to her son Francis H. Boyle until her death, later modified in 1931 with his consent to extend the payment period and add provisions for his children. After Julia's will and codicil expressly excluded adopted children from the definition of "issue," Francis's adopted children claimed beneficiary status under the trust. The court affirmed the lower court's order denying their claim, holding that Julia remained the sole settlor whose intent controlled the trust's construction, the modification did not make Francis a cosettlor, and her expressed exclusion of adopted children applied. The court reasoned that adoption statutes are strictly construed against extending rights to third parties uninvolved in the adoption and that surrounding circumstances confirmed Julia's intent to limit beneficiaries to blood relatives.

family lawproperty

This case concerned a charitable trust created under a will for the Dane County Humane Society to fund its work preventing cruelty to animals, children, and other groups, with the trust terms set by a 1916-1917 judgment. An erroneous 1939 county court order terminated the trust and distributed its assets, but a later 1943 order vacated that termination; the 1953 judgment under review upheld the correction. The court held that the attorney general, representing the public interest in charitable trusts, could challenge the 1939 order at any time due to lack of notice, and that the judgment properly restored the trust to its original administration. The decision affirmed the 1953 judgment on that basis, noting the trustee lacked standing after discharge but the attorney general did not.

propertyprocedure

The case involved a worker's compensation claim by Peter P. Keller against his employer, International Harvester Company, seeking additional benefits for alleged permanent partial disability from a 1949 workplace fall. The Industrial Commission found that Keller did not sustain any permanent disability as a result of the injury, a determination upheld by the trial court. The Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed the judgment, reasoning that the commission's findings of fact are conclusive if supported by any credible evidence, and here medical testimony from company doctors indicated no permanent disability and a lack of continuity between the original injury and later back complaints. The court noted that disputes in medical expert opinions are for the commission to resolve based on credibility and weight.

labor & employmentprocedure

The case involved a dispute over whether appellant Kaufman was contractually obligated to pay two notes owed by respondent Gunnison to a bank as part of Kaufman's agreement to acquire Gunnison's corporation and related claims. After partial payments by Kaufman and the corporation, Gunnison paid the remaining balance on the unsecured $7,000 note, and the trial court entered judgment requiring Kaufman to reimburse that amount plus interest. The court held that Kaufman's oral promise was not subject to the statute of frauds because it formed part of the consideration for the business transfer rather than a collateral promise to answer for another's debt, and evidence confirmed the agreement's existence, timing, and consideration. The court also found no abuse of discretion in denying a continuance after amendment of the complaint, as the amendment did not introduce new issues or prejudice the defense.

business & regulatoryprocedure

This case involved a nighttime car accident on a gradual incline of Highway 33 in Wisconsin, where a Plymouth driven by James Sullivan collided with the rear of a Cadillac slowing to turn into a steak house after the Plymouth had passed another vehicle and closed the gap without reducing speed. The Supreme Court of Wisconsin reversed judgments holding the Cadillac's driver and owner negligent for suddenly decreasing speed without signaling, while affirming liability against James Sullivan. The majority reasoned that physical evidence showed no brake application occurred and that releasing the accelerator on the uniform slope could not produce a sudden slowdown within the meaning of the statute requiring a signal, so the Cadillac driver was not negligent and the cause was instead Sullivan's failure in management, control, and following too closely. A dissent maintained that witness testimony created a jury question on whether the deceleration was sudden.

torts & liability

The case concerned the sufficiency of a petition to incorporate a specific area as a village under Wisconsin statutes, with the town of Summit objecting that the petition failed to allege the territory constituted a village in fact beyond meeting the statutory area and population thresholds. The court held that the petition was insufficient because it did not allege characteristics showing the area was developed as an urban community suitable for village purposes. The core reasoning relied on constitutional provisions requiring uniformity in town and village government and on prior precedent interpreting the term 'village' to imply a community with established conveniences and social structures, rather than merely satisfying numerical criteria in the incorporation statute. The court also addressed procedural aspects, noting that incorporation proceedings are nonadversary and that the sufficiency of the petition could be reviewed on appeal from any incorporation order.

procedure

The case involved a claim by respondent Klinger against the estate of Alfred Kandall for $12,000 based on a check the decedent wrote shortly before his death, marked "For Labor," to compensate for uncompensated services over many years. The trial court allowed the claim, finding it supported by consideration, but the appellate court reversed the judgment. The court reasoned that the claim was asserted as a debt for services rather than a gift or testamentary bequest, yet there was no evidence of an express contract for additional compensation, as the respondent had been paid regularly for his hours worked without prior demands for more pay. Without such a contract or legal consideration for extra payment, the mere expressions of gratitude or feeling underpaid by the decedent and claimant were insufficient to establish liability against the estate.

labor & employmentproperty

The case concerned nonresident individuals seeking to act as collection solicitors in Wisconsin for an out-of-state agency, who claimed exemption from the state's Collection Agency Law on grounds that it discriminated against and unduly burdened interstate commerce. The court decided that the respondents and their principal agency were subject to the licensing, bonding, record-keeping, and other requirements of the statute. The core reasoning was that the law is a legitimate police-power regulation to protect the public from deceptive practices, with reasonable fees that cover only administrative costs and provisions that apply equally to intrastate and interstate actors without congressional preemption; the solicitors were found to be agents of the agency, so their presence in the state subjected the agency to regulation.

business & regulatoryfederal power

This case concerns a post-divorce custody dispute over the parties' son, David, in which the trial court found the mother, Marjorie Hamachek, unfit and awarded custody to the father, Ogden Hamachek. The mother appealed, arguing that the order was punitive, failed to consider the child's welfare or the father's fitness, and rested on a single moral lapse. The Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed the order, holding that the child's welfare is the prime consideration under Wis. Stat. § 247.24 and that a finding of parental unfitness implicitly supports a custody change for the child's benefit. The court reviewed extensive evidence of the mother's ongoing relationship with a married man after learning of his status and concluded that the father could provide a stable home with proper supervision, while the trial court's discretionary ruling was not against the weight of the evidence.

family law

This case involved a challenge by Delores Kissling Schroeder to the probate of her grandmother Mary Kissling's 1947 will, which left her only a $100 bequest while dividing the rest equally among the three surviving children. The petitioner sought to vacate the March 1953 probate decree fifteen months later, claiming the testatrix lacked testamentary capacity due to age and illness. The Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed the county court's refusal to vacate the decree. The court reasoned that jurisdiction had properly attached based on affirmative evidence at probate, the petition showed no fraud, surprise, or misrepresentation warranting reopening, and the cited evidence of incapacity related only to events eighteen months after the will's execution.

propertyfamily lawprocedure

In Kassien v. Menako, the appellant sought summary judgment on the ground that the respondent's claim for property damage and waste had already been resolved in a prior lawsuit between the same parties, Menako v. Kassien. The court held that the prior action did not bar the current claim and affirmed the trial court's denial of summary judgment. The core reasoning was that the present cause of action concerned a different claim from the earlier case, which had required only restoration of the parties to their former positions. The opinion noted that even if the respondent had known of the damage during the first suit, he was not required to assert it as a counterclaim at that time.

propertyproceduretorts & liability

The case concerned a workers' compensation claim for permanent partial disability arising from a hip injury sustained by an employee of California Packing Company. The Industrial Commission awarded compensation based on 64% permanent partial disability using an unverified medical letter and reserved jurisdiction for possible future temporary or permanent disability. The Wisconsin Supreme Court held that the commission exceeded its authority by reserving jurisdiction, as the only competent evidence showed the applicant's condition was static after the healing period ended, with no credible basis for anticipating future complications absent refused surgery. The court further addressed the inadmissibility of unverified reports and the need for proper evidence in such proceedings.

labor & employmentprocedure

The case concerned the estate of Regina Dusterhoft, where the administrator and guardian ad litem for minor children sought to apply proceeds from the sale of real estate (including a homestead) toward statutory allowances for the children's support, against a claim by the City of Waukesha. The court held that the doctrine of equitable conversion did not apply because the will granted the executor only discretionary power to sell real estate for the children's benefit, not a mandatory direction to convert it to personalty. However, under the 1949 amendment to sec. 313.15(4), Stats., the county court has discretion to assign up to $2,000 from the residue of the estate (including realty proceeds) for the support of minor children even in an insolvent estate. The court reversed the appealed portion of the order and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this interpretation, emphasizing the statute's liberal purpose to protect families during bereavement.

family lawpropertyprocedure

The case involved a driver charged with operating a vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor under a Milwaukee city ordinance mirroring state statute, after being stopped for speeding at 39 m.p.h. in a 25 m.p.h. zone and showing a blood alcohol level above 0.15% with corroborating physical test failures indicating intoxication. The court decided that the driver was guilty and affirmed the municipal court's judgment. The core reasoning was that the statute requires only two elements for violation: operating a vehicle on the highway and being under the influence of intoxicants, with blood alcohol evidence above the threshold plus physical corroboration sufficing to establish the second element; no additional proof of appreciable interference with driving ability is needed, as the law defines the offense without requiring erratic driving or resulting harm.

criminal law

This case involves a husband's suit for divorce claiming that he and his wife had voluntarily lived entirely separate for the five years preceding the action under Wis. Stat. § 247.07(7). The court reversed the trial court's finding of voluntary separation and directed dismissal of the complaint. The core reasoning was that the separation was not mutually voluntary at its inception, as established by a prior judicial decree finding the wife had been compelled to leave due to the husband's failure to provide support, and by the husband's own earlier pleadings alleging desertion without his consent or acquiescence, which were binding and incompatible with a voluntary-separation claim.

family law

This case concerned a workers' compensation dispute in which employee Robert Henderson sought additional benefits after fracturing ribs and injuring his back in a 1947 fall from a scaffold while employed as a carpenter. Following an initial stipulation approved by the Industrial Commission for 10 percent permanent partial disability, the commission later held hearings on its own motion and modified the award to 40 percent permanent total disability based on medical evidence. The circuit court affirmed the commission's order, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld that decision, concluding that the commission possessed jurisdiction to schedule further hearings and that credible testimony from physicians supported the increased disability rating. The court further observed that an employer takes an employee as found, even when pre-existing conditions contribute to the disability.

labor & employment

The case concerned residents' challenge to the City of Milwaukee's resolutions directing fluoridation of the municipal water supply, which the city operates as a public utility. The court affirmed the lower court's judgment upholding the program, ruling that it constituted a valid exercise of the city's police power to promote public health and general welfare. The core reasoning was that dental caries qualifies as a public health concern with a reasonable basis for legislative action, that scientific evidence supports the benefits of controlled fluoride levels despite differing opinions, and that the measure did not exceed reasonable bounds or invade protected individual rights, as precedents like Jacobson v. Massachusetts confirm judicial deference to such regulations absent clear constitutional violations.

healthcarebusiness & regulatory