## Facts

- M.M., a 15-year-old student, was seriously injured in a school auditorium while practicing a bicycle stunt connected to a class activity.
- M.M. and his father, Thomas Moore, sued Fargo Public School District No. 1 and a teacher, alleging negligence.
- Before the relevant trial, the teacher settled; the case proceeded to a jury trial against the school district only.
- The jury allocated 70% fault to M.M. and 30% fault to the teacher and other district employees.
- The jury awarded Moore $285,000 in past economic damages representing medical expenses incurred while M.M. was a minor.
- Applying North Dakota’s modified comparative fault statute, the district court barred recovery because M.M.’s fault exceeded the defendants’ combined fault and dismissed Moore’s medical-expense claim; Moore sought judgment for 30% of the expenses ($85,500) but was denied.

## Issues

1. Whether a parent’s claim for a minor child’s past medical expenses is derivative of the child’s personal injury claim.
2. Whether, under North Dakota’s modified comparative fault statute, the child’s comparative fault can bar the parent’s recovery for past medical expenses when the parent was not personally at fault.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of North Dakota affirmed the judgment for the school district.
- The court held that a parent’s claim for a minor child’s past medical expenses is derivative of the child’s underlying injury claim.
- Because the child’s fault (70%) exceeded the defendants’ fault (30%), the child was barred from recovery under the modified comparative fault statute.
- The same comparative-fault bar applied to the parent’s derivative medical-expense claim, defeating Moore’s request for partial recovery.

## Legal Principles

- A parent’s claim to recover a minor child’s past medical expenses arises from and depends on the child’s actionable injury claim; it is treated as derivative.
- In allocating responsibility under comparative fault, the child’s negligence is considered in determining the extent of the parent’s recovery for medical expenses paid.
- Under North Dakota’s modified comparative fault statute, when the plaintiff’s fault exceeds the combined fault of those from whom recovery is sought, recovery is barred; this bar applies to derivative medical-expense claims when the child is the injured plaintiff.

## Conclusion

North Dakota treats a parent’s claim for a minor child’s past medical expenses as derivative of the child’s personal injury action, so the child’s comparative fault can reduce or entirely bar the parent’s recovery; because M.M. was found more at fault than the defendants, Moore recovered nothing.


Moore v. Fargo Pub. Sch. Dist. No. 1, 815 N.W.2d 273 (N.D. 2012)