Joseph C. Plyler v. Wheaton Van Lines, an Indiana Corporation and Raymond G. Hutton

KENNEDY, Circuit Judge:

Before California adopted the comparative negligence principle in Li v. Yellow Cab Co., 13 Cal.3d 804, 119 Cal.Rptr. 858, 532 P.2d 1226 (1975), the state rule was that a plaintiff’s contributory negligence did not bar or diminish recovery if the defendant was guilty of wanton and wilful misconduct. The sole question here is whether, under California law, the comparative negligence doctrine superseded the wanton and wilful misconduct rule. Our interpretation of California law is that the wanton and wilful misconduct rule was superseded, and that after Li v. Yellow Cab…