## Facts

- James A. Gibson, an unemancipated minor, rode at night in a car driven by his father, Robert Gibson, who was towing a jeep.
- The complaint alleged the father negligently stopped the car on the highway.
- The complaint further alleged the father negligently instructed James to go onto the roadway to correct the jeep’s wheel position.
- While following those instructions near the jeep on the roadway, James was struck by another vehicle and injured.
- James sued his father for damages based on ordinary negligence.

## Issues

1. Whether an unemancipated minor child may maintain a tort action against a parent for personal injuries caused by the parent’s ordinary negligence.
2. If parental immunity is not absolute, what standard of care governs a parent’s conduct in a negligence action brought by an unemancipated minor child.

## Decision

- The California Supreme Court reversed the judgment of dismissal entered after the trial court sustained the father’s general demurrer without leave to amend.
- The court held that an unemancipated minor child may sue a parent for negligence for personal injuries.
- The court abolished the general doctrine of parental immunity for personal torts in California.
- The court adopted an objective “reasonable parent” standard to evaluate alleged parental negligence.
- The case was remanded for further proceedings.

## Legal Principles

- General parental immunity from a child’s personal injury tort claims is not a valid categorical bar to liability for ordinary negligence.
- An unemancipated minor may maintain a negligence action against a parent when the parent’s conduct falls below that of a reasonable parent in like circumstances.
- Policy concerns commonly offered to justify parental immunity (family harmony, discipline, and potential collusion) do not warrant denying all negligence claims; such concerns are addressed through ordinary tort standards and litigation safeguards.
- Stare decisis does not require retention of a judicially created immunity doctrine that lacks firm common-law roots and has been weakened by exceptions and subsequent doctrinal developments.

## Conclusion

California permits an unemancipated minor to sue a parent for personal injuries caused by the parent’s ordinary negligence, and parental conduct is judged by an objective reasonable-parent standard rather than by a blanket immunity rule.


Gibson v. Gibson, 479 P.2d 648 (Cal. 1971)