Clarence C. Pamperin and Doris M. Pamperin, Claimants-Appellants-Petitioners v. Trinity Memorial Hospital and St…

Summary

The Wisconsin Supreme Court held that a hospital providing emergency room care may be held liable under the doctrine of apparent authority for the negligence of independent-contractor physicians retained to provide that care — whether they treat the patient directly or supply support services invisible to the patient — unless the patient knows or should know of the independent-contractor status. It rejected liability under respondeat superior, because the radiology group was an independent contractor and not the hospital's servant, and under the nondelegable-duty doctrine, because the statutory duty to have radiological services available is delegable. The court reversed the court of appeals' affirmance of summary judgment dismissing the hospital and its insurer and remanded for reconsideration of the summary judgment motions. Justice Steinmetz, dissenting, joined by Justice Bablitch, would have found no apparent-authority liability because the patient neither knew of nor could have relied on the radiologist, arguing the majority strained the reliance element 'to the breaking point.'