PIERRE, SD – The October 2020 session of the South Dakota Supreme Court is underway this week. One of the cases being heard involves whether or not a city and its volunteer fire department should be held liable for an accident that occurred in 2016.
Gerrit Tronvold, who is part of the Pierre volunteer fire department, was driving to a monthly meeting at the fire station. According to court documents, he failed to stop at a stop sign at the intersection of Grey Goose Road and South Dakota Highway 1804.
As he crossed the oncoming lane of traffic, a motorcycle carrying Randall Jurgens and Lisa Tammen, crashed into the side of his pickup. Both suffered life-threatening injuries, including having their left legs amputated.
The fire department and city of Pierre say they were not liable for Tronvold’s actions under the ‘going and coming” rule. The rule states when the employee is commuting to and from work, his/her employment is suspended with some exemptions. As such, his/her liabilities are not assigned to his/her employer.
Attorney for the City of Pierre Michael Luce argued, “To go to this meeting, he just had to get there, that is not a vehicle excemption to the strongly established ‘going and coming’ rule that has been the established law not only in South Dakota, but elsewhere.”
But attorney Mark Haigh, arguing for the defendants, said the Pierre Volunteer Fire Department was a direct benefit to Tronvold’s attending the meeting because they were realizing a more highly trained firefighter. “In this case, Mr. Tronvold was going to training with his personal, protective equipment to learn how to be a volunteer fireman. He wasn’t benefiting from this. The sole benefit in this case was the Pierre Fire Department because they were getting better-trained, volunteer firefighters,” Haigh said.
In arguments, it was disputed whether or not Pierre Fire Department meetings are mandatory. However, a city ordinance does state there are requirements to attend all meetings.
Tronvold was not injured in the crash.
The Supreme Court will make its ruling at a later time.
