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★ Minnesota · fracture

Fracture settlements
in Minnesota.

By Reviewed by Abd Shanti, Founder9 min read

A Minnesota jury found a parish school and a woman’s own husband equally to blame when her wheelchair went over an unmarked five inch drop and she broke her leg. The Supreme Court held the school had to pay only its half. At work the rules differ: an employee who broke her ankle on the office stairs was covered.

Facts that decide a fracture claim in Minnesota

Paying only your shareA defendant who is only severally liable cannot be required to pay more than its equitable share through reallocation, even when another person’s share cannot be collected.Staab v. Diocese of St. Cloud (Minn. 2014)
Fault ruleYour fault “does not bar recovery … if the contributory fault was not greater than the fault of the person against whom recovery is sought,” but damages are reduced by your share.Minn. Stat. § 604.01, subd. 1
Deadline to sueSix years for negligence claims “for any other injury to the person or rights of another, not arising on contract.”Minn. Stat. § 541.05, subd. 1(5)
Claims against governmentNotice within 180 days for cities and for the State; liability is capped at $500,000 per claimant and $1.5 million per occurrence.Minn. Stat. §§ 466.05, 466.04, 3.736; see our notice table
united states · sister site
Your fracture claim in Minnesota. See the number for your own case.

FairSettlement gives you a free estimate for your own fracture case in about two minutes, no cost and no obligation.

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★ MN · reported fracture outcomes

What Minnesota courts have awarded.

Real Minnesota decisions and verdicts, each linked to the court record or official report.

  • Staab v. Diocese of St. Cloud
    Minnesota Supreme Court · 2014
    $224,200.70 verdict; diocese pays its 50%

    At a 2005 event at Holy Cross Parish School, Richard Staab pushed his wife Alice’s wheelchair through a doorway and over an unmarked five inch drop, and she fell and broke her leg. She sued only the diocese. The jury found the diocese and her husband each 50 percent at fault and awarded $224,200.70. The trial court later made the diocese pay the husband’s share too, but the Supreme Court reversed.

  • Roller-Dick v. CentraCare Health System
    Minnesota Supreme Court · 2018
    Benefits awarded; affirmed

    Laurie Roller-Dick was leaving work down a stairway not usually open to the public, holding a plant in both hands with her bag on her arm and not using the rails, when she fell and fractured her left ankle. The compensation judge denied benefits, the Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals reversed, and the Supreme Court affirmed that the injury arose out of her employment under the increased risk test; two justices dissented.

★ MN · fracture · in practice

What changes the number here.

What actually moves a fracture settlement in Minnesota.

  1. 1

    Name every at-fault party. Staab could not collect her husband’s 50 percent from the diocese.

  2. 2

    Unmarked changes in floor level are classic negligence facts, as the five inch drop at the school showed.

  3. 3

    A fall on work stairs can be compensable even if you were carrying something personal, as in Roller-Dick.

★ MN · statute of limitations
6 years for personal injury (uncommonly long); 4 years for medical malpractice

Minn. Stat. § 541.05, § 541.076

★ MN · fault rule
Modified comparative, 51% bar

Modified comparative, recovery barred at 51% claimant fault.

★ fracture · same region & fault regime

Compare to like jurisdictions.

How Minnesota's fault rule and limitation period compare to jurisdictions in the same US region and to those running the same fault rule for fracture claims.

JurisdictionFault ruleLimitationFracture page
Minnesota · you are hereModified comparative, 51% bar6 years for personal injury (uncommonly long); 4 years for medical malpractice—
MissouriPure comparative negligence5 years for personal injury; 2 years for medical malpracticeMO · fracture →
NebraskaModified comparative, 50% bar4 years for personal injury; 2 years for medical malpracticeNE · fracture →
North DakotaModified comparative, 50% bar6 years for personal injury; 2 years for medical malpracticeND · fracture →
OhioModified comparative, 51% bar2 years from date of injuryOH · fracture →
South DakotaSlight versus gross negligence3 years from date of injurySD · fracture →
WisconsinModified comparative, 51% bar3 years from date of injuryWI · fracture →
MontanaModified comparative, 51% bar3 years from date of injuryMT · fracture →
NevadaModified comparative, 51% bar2 years for personal injury; 3 years for medical malpracticeNV · fracture →
New HampshireModified comparative, 51% bar3 years from date of injuryNH · fracture →
New JerseyModified comparative, 51% bar2 years from date of injuryNJ · fracture →
MississippiPure comparative negligence3 years from date of injuryMS · fracture →
New MexicoPure comparative negligence3 years from date of injuryNM · fracture →
★ MN · fracture · frequently asked

Common questions.

Each answer is independently coherent and references the relevant statute or authority document.

united states · sister site
Hurt in a car crash in Minnesota? See what your own claim could be worth.

FairSettlement, our US sister site, gives you a free estimate in about two minutes. No cost and no obligation.

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Sources

Checked 2026-09-29.

★ all of MN
Minnesota overview

Fault rule, statute, caps, and key facts for Minnesota as a whole.

★ national frame
Fracture in United States

Fracture band structure and severity tiers at the US level.

★ all 15 countries
Fracture · everywhere

Cross-jurisdiction comparison of fracture bands.

★ editorial note

Figures on this page are not quotes for any specific case. For representation, consult an attorney admitted in Minnesota. See /methodology, /sources, and /disclaimer.