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Perra v. Menomonee Mutual Insurance Co.9/6/2000
APPEAL from order of the circuit court for Waukesha County: PATRICK L. SNYDER, Judge.
Affirmed.
. Jessica Perra, a minor, appeals from an order granting partial summary judgment to Richard Lauer and Twyla Lauer (Lauer) and Menomonee Mutual Insurance Company, Lauer's liability insurer. The circuit court held that a minor cannot maintain a cause of action under Wis. Stat. § 103.65 (1997-98) for absolute liability when the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) has not listed the minor's employment at the time of injury as a prohibited employment pursuant to Wis. Admin. Code § DWD 270.06. Perra argues on appeal that a violation of § 103.65 creates a cause of action under Wisconsin's child labor laws and an employer is absolutely liable for said violation, even if the minor's employment is not listed in § DWD 270.06 as a prohibited employment. Menomonee Mutual and Lauer argue that the list of prohibited employments contained in § DWD 270.06 provides employers with notice of all prohibited employment, and a specific violation of the directives of this list is required to find absolute liability for a violation of child labor laws. We agree with Menomonee Mutual and Lauer and affirm the circuit court's order.
BACKGROUND
. The facts are undisputed. On April 22, 1995, seventeen-year-old Perra was injured while working at a farm owned by Lauer. Perra was operating Lauer's cement mixer, mixing seed, when she was injured. The fingers of Perra's left hand sustained severe injury when her hand became caught in the gears of the cement mixer.
. Perra and her health insurer, Primecare Health Plan, Inc., initiated this action against Lauer and Menomonee Mutual on February 12, 1998, for the injuries Perra received on April 22, 1995. In the second cause of action of the amended complaint, Perra alleged a cause of action against Lauer for employing her as a minor in an employment that was dangerous or prejudicial to her life, health, safety or welfare contrary to Wis. Stat. § 103.65. During pretrial discovery presented to the court during summary judgment motions, safety experts for both sides asserted that an unguarded, in-running nip joint of the cement mixer made Perra's employment a dangerous one.
. After other various pretrial motions were resolved, on February 11, 1999, Menomonee Mutual and Lauer moved for partial summary judgment dismissing the amended complaint's second cause of action on the grounds that Perra's employment at the time she was injured, the operation of a cement mixer by a seventeen-year-old, was not employment prohibited by Wis. Admin. Code, § DWD 270.06. After a briefing schedule and a hearing where oral arguments were presented, the circuit court ruled in favor of Menomonee Mutual and Lauer and granted partial summary judgment. The matter then proceeded to a jury trial on the negligence claim alone. The jury found Lauer negligent, but also found that this negligence was not the cause of Perra's injuries. The circuit court then issued an order dismissing the matter on its merits. Perra appeals only the circuit court decision relating to summary judgment.
DISCUSSION
. We review the circuit court's grant of summary judgment using the same methodology as the circuit court. See City of Beaver Dam v. Cromheecke, 222 Wis. 2d 608, 613, 587 N.W.2d 923 (Ct. App. 1998). That methodology is well known and need not be repeated here except to observe that summary judgment is appropriate when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law. See id.; Wis. Stat. § 802.08(2). Because there are no material facts at issue in this case, we must dete
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