Four systems, and Minnesota uses the more common middle version
American fault law splits into four real categories: pure comparative negligence, modified comparative negligence with a 50% bar, modified comparative negligence with a 51% bar, and pure contributory negligence. Minnesota uses the 51% bar — the more typical of the two modified thresholds nationally.
Minnesota's rule: barred only when you exceed them
Under Minn. Stat. § 604.01, a claimant recovers as long as their fault was not greater than the fault of the defendant. A claimant at exactly 50% still recovers half their damages; only crossing to 51% bars recovery entirely.
A genuinely broad statutory definition of "fault"
Minnesota's comparative fault statute doesn't limit itself to ordinary negligence. The statutory definition of "fault" explicitly includes acts or omissions that are negligent or reckless in any measure, strict tort liability, breach of warranty, unreasonable assumption of risk not constituting consent, misuse of a product, and an unreasonable failure to avoid injury or mitigate damages. This breadth means Minnesota's comparative fault analysis can apply across a wider range of claim types than a narrower, negligence-only comparative statute might.
The stricter alternative: a 50% bar
A smaller group of about 12 states, including Georgia and Kansas, use a stricter version: recovery is barred the moment the claimant's fault is equal to the defendant's, not only when it exceeds it. A claimant at exactly 50% recovers nothing in those states, while the same claimant recovers a meaningful amount in Minnesota.
Pure comparative negligence and contributory negligence: the two extremes
At the more forgiving end of the spectrum, pure comparative negligence states like California never bar recovery for ordinary fault at all. At the far stricter end, the five contributory negligence jurisdictions — Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and DC — bar recovery entirely for any fault, even 1%. See our guide to the other states using a 51% bar for Minnesota's closest peer group nationally.