Laier v. Kitchen

Plaintiff appeals as of right an order of the trial court granting summary disposition for defendant and dismissing plaintiffs wrongful death action following his son’s death in a farm equipment accident on defendant’s property. We reverse and remand.

I. ISSUE

The decedent, Rodney Laier, was killed in an accident on defendant’s property while assisting defendant with hydraulic hose repairs on the front-end loader of a tractor borrowed from plaintiff, which defendant broke while using it to compress materials in a dumpster. During the attempted repair, the bucket on the loader dropped, pinning…