Kaiser v. Northern States Power Co.

KELLEY, Justice.

In this action brought by eight City of St. Paul firefighters against Northern States Power Company (NSP) for injuries allegedly sustained while fighting the Commodore Hotel fire in 1978, the trial court denied NSP’s motion for summary judgment and ruled (1) that the firefighters’ claims were not barred by res judicata or collateral estoppel; (2) that the “fireman’s rule” as a matter of law did not bar the firefighters’ recovery; and (3) that the “election of remedies” defense of Minn.Stat. § 176.061 (1982) did not bar the claims. The trial court certified to us the questions…