Thomas H. Felderhoff v. August Felderhoff

This is a personal injury suit filed on behalf of Thomas H. Felderhoff, Jr. for damages arising out of injuries sustained while employed by Felderhoff Brothers, a farming partnership of which his father was a member. At the time of the accident Felderhoff, Jr. was a fourteen-year-old unemancipated minor, and the accident was alleged to have been proximately caused by the negligent acts of his father in the course and furtherance of the partnership business. Felderhoff, Jr., hereinafter referred to as plaintiff, did not sue his father, naming only Felderhoff Brothers and the other two partners as defendants. The trial court granted summary judgment for the defendants on the grounds that a parent is immune from a suit by his unemancipated child for personal injuries based upon ordinary negligence and that such immunity extends to the partnership of which his father is a member. The Court of Civil Appeals affirmed. 470 S.W.2d 301. We reverse and remand for a trial on the merits.