Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Negligence is the failure to exercise reasonable care to avoid injury (Abraham, 46). In most
cases, one is under a duty not to cause injury to others, so demonstrating an injury caused by
negligence is usually the same as showing the presence of a duty and showing that the duty was
breached (Abraham, 223). In some cases (e.g. breaking a statute, Martin v. Herzog) negligence
may be shown without resorting to duty/breach language. In other cases (e.g. to warn and rescue,
Harper v. Herman), it is more natural to analyze negligence in terms of duty and breach. This
section deals with negligence in general.
• due care: In general, people have a duty to exercise due care when they act to create a
risk (Brown v. Kendall). It may be convenient to analyze a duty of due care as arising if
the burden to prevent an injury is less than the probability the injury will occur multiplied
by the extent (liability) of the injury should it occur (B<PL) (United States v. Carroll
Towing Co). Some jurisdictions (e.g. New York) have held that "reasonable care under
all of the circumstances of the particular case" is flexible enough to appply to diverse
circumstances, even to replace special rules for common carriers (Bethel v. New York
City Transit Authority).
• foreseeable: It usually must be foreseeable that the accident would occur by the
defendant's actions for a breach of duty to occur. (Adams v. Bullock)
• negligence a jury issue: In most cases the question of what constitutes due care should
be left to the jury, as are all questions of fact (Andrews v. United Airlines, Inc.).
Sometimes the standard of care is so familiar to the court the judge can decide the issue
(Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co. v. Goodman). This should be limited to an exception,
however, as the specific facts of individual cases sometimes call for different outcomes,
and the jury can decide this best (Pokora v. Wabash Railway Co.).
• custom: Breaking a custom (such as a common industry practice) may be used to prove
negligence, but it is not dispositive (Trimarco v. Klein) except in malpractice cases.
Conversely, conforming to a custom does not prove the absence of negligence (Leonard
v. Watsonville Community Hospital).
• statute: Disobeying a statute is usually dispositive of negligence ("is negligence itself,"
Martin v. Herzog), even if disobedience of the statute is common (Robinson v. District of
Columbia), but only if the purpose of the statute is to prevent the type of injury in
question (Platt v. City of Cahoes). It is not negligent to disobey a statute if the
disobedience is to further the purpose of the statute (e.g. safety, Tedla v. Ellman).
• res ipsa loquitur: "The thing speaks for itself." Some injuries are prima facie evidence of
negligence, even with no direct proof of an action by the defendant (Byrne v. Boadle).
There are three common elements of res ipsa loquitur (Ybarra v. Spangard, quoting
Prosser, Torts):
1. The accident usually doesn't occur unless there is negligence.
2. The accident was caused by an "agent or instrumentality" in the exclusive
control of the defendant.
3. The accident was not due to any "voluntary action or contribution" from the
plaintiff.
Note that res ipsa loquitur does not actually prove the defendant was negligent—it
simply defeats the defendant's motion for a directed verdict for lack of evidence,
allowing the case to go to the jury while shifting the burden of proof to the defendant.
The jury could then still decide the defendant was not negligent, although if the defendant
produces no new evidence the jury is likely to find for the plaintiff. (Abraham, 93). Res
ipsa loquitur does not preclude expert testimony to bring evidence concerning the
presence of negligence (Connors v. University Associates in Obstetrics & Gynecology,
Inc.).
This doctrine is most useful when there are several plaintiffs and it is likely that at least
one of them is negligent, but it is unknown which one (Ybarra v. Spangard). By in
essence imposing strict liability on the defendants, it "smokes out" evidence by shifting
the burden of proof and forcing the defendants to produce evidence, to "rat out" the
negligent party. Ironically, these sort of cases are those in which the accident does not
"speak for itself" as to the guilty party (Abraham, 95).
• professionals
Even in the absence of malpractice, a physician can still be liable for treatments
causing injury if there was no informed consent from the patient. The doctor has
a duty to inform the patient of all medically reasonable alternatives and their
risks, even for non-invasive procedures (Matthies v. Mastromonaco).
Withholding information interferes with the patient's right of self-determination.
There are two standards for determining informed consent (Abraham, 74-75):
reasonable-patient standard
Physician must disclose information the a reasonable patient in the patient's condition
would wish to know, which includes special concerns such as the importance of pianist's
fingers. Most courts use this standard.
reasonable-physician standard
Informed consent is only actionable as malpractice—whether the known standards
dictated the physician should have informed the patient.
Duty
In special cases there is a real question of whether there is a duty in the first place not to be
negligent. In these instances, if no duty is shown it is irrelevant whether the defendant was
negligent—there is no tort.
attempting to aid
One is under a duty not to be negligent while rescuing, should one decide to attempt an
a rescue (Abraham, 225).
making a situation worse
One is always under a duty to avoid affirmative actions that make a situation worse
(Farwell v. Keaton).
orbit of duty
Courts have sometimes established an "orbit of duty" to cover foreseeable parties
while containing liability to manageable levels, determined by public policy (Strauss v.
Belle Realty Co.).
protect or warn third parties
There is normally no duty to control the actions of a second party and no duty to
protect a third party.
• special relationship: A duty arises from a special relationship either
(Tarasoff v. Regents of the Univ. of California) (Restatement (Second) of Torts §
315):
o between the defendant and the second party (the party needing
controlled), or
o between the defendant and the third party (the party being injurred)
o parent-child
o master-servant (e.g. employer-employee)
o land possessor-user
o someone who takes someone else into custody
o chattel possessor-user
o doctor-patient (as in Tarasoff v. Regents of the Univ. of California)
• "Tarasoff considerations": There are several "Tarasoff
considerations" that help determine if a duty should be imposed Tarasoff v.
Regents of the Univ. of California:
trespassers
There is no duty of care.
licensees
Those invited with no material benefit to the defendant (including social guests). The
defendant only has a duty to warn or make safe against known dangers.
invitees
Those invited with material benefit to the defendant or invitation to the general public.
The defendant has duty to protect against known dangers and those which would be
evident upon inspection.
5. Some courts have even granted liability for emotional harm that is
foreseeable in that it could reasonably be expected to befall the ordinarily
sensitive person, such as the family of the recently deceased (Gammon v.
Osteopathic Hospital of Maine, Inc.).
economic harm
The courts have traditionally denied liability for "pure" economic harm, in which the
economic harm as not connected with any physical harm to the plaintiff. This is because
pure economic loss would have an unpredictable scope of liability (Abraham, 235).
Courts have recently created exceptions based upon special relationships and use of a
public resource. (These exceptions are really just instances of broader characterizations:
foreseeability; direct and proximate case; and fair limitation of liability.) One has a duty
to "take reasonable measures to avoid the risk of causing economic damages ... to
particular plaintiffs or plaintiffs comprising an identifiable class with respect to whom
defendant knows or has reason to know are likely to suffer such damages from its
conduct" (People Express Airlines, Inc. v. Consolidated Rail Corp.).
professionals and non-clients for pecuniary loss
There are three tests for determining if an accountant, for example, has a duty to an
unknown non-client to prevent pecuniary loss (Nycal Corporation v. KPMG Peat
Marwick LLP.):
Causation/Liability
A defendant is not liable in tort solely for being negligent. The negligent action must cause
injury to another. Awarding damages only to the party that causes an injury creates a way for
individuals to predict when courts will award damages, creating a deterrant for injury-causing
behavior (Abraham, 105). The importance of causation to torts, then, is not just about whether
the defendant actually caused the plaintiff's injury, but also for determining the defendant's
liability. Although liability usually derives from causation, in some cases (Hymowitz v. Eli Lilly
& Co.) the defendant is held liable whether or not the plaintiff's actions actually caused injury to
the plaintiff in question.
Every event has an infinite number of causes—you wouldn't have hit me if you hadn't been born,
you wouldn't have been born if one of your parents hadn't boarded the wrong the train, etc. At
some point, the causes aren't "close enough" to the injury in question to have an influence on
liability—the causes are not proximate (Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co.). For liability in
torts, the defendant's negligence must therefore must be both a cause-in-fact and a proximate
cause.
• cause-in-fact: Whether the defendant's neligence actually caused the injury. This usually
involves considering what would or would not have happened had the defendant's action
not occurred. For this reason, determining causation is usually a jury question (Stubbs v.
City of Rochester), (Wilson v. Circus Circus Hotels, Inc., (Abraham, 100).
Technical matters (such as medicine) often requires the use of expert testimony to help
the jury decide causation. In determining which expert testimony to allow, the judge
might examine such factors such as whether a theory has been tested using the scientific
method, whether there has been peer review and publication, whether there is a rate of
error, and whether the theory is generally accepted (Zuchowicz v. United States). In
making that determination, the judge walks a fine line between evaluating the reliability
of expert testimony while still allowing the jury to evaluate the persuasiveness of that
testimony (Abraham, 102-103).
The negligent actor that brings about the intervening cause will also be liable.
(The damage award for an intervening act may be reduced if it can be shown that
a different injury would have occurred anyway (Dillon v. Twin State Gas &
Electric Co.).) The intervening negligent actor may be liable for reducing the
victim's chances of recovery (loss of chance), if the victim was in the window of
recovery and an actual injury occurs (Alberts v. Schultz).
Liability Allocation
several liability:
Each defendant is only liable for the amount of injury caused. When one tort is negligent
and one is intentional, liability is still allocated (Hutcherson v. City of Phoenix) unless the
negligent act was failure to protect against the intentional act (Veazey v. Elmwood
Plantation Associates, Ltd.). Several liability is imposed when:
Damages
Purposes
Awarding damages has two purposes (Abraham, 206):
Types
1. Compensatory damages: The most common type of damages. The jury can award just
about any amount they think reasonable, and the judge can only rule an amount excessive
if it "shocks the conscience" and if it must have been a result of passion and prejudice
(Seffert v. Los Angeles Transit Lines, Epping v. Commonwealth Edison Co.). It doesn't
matter if other similar plaintiffs recieved less (Miksis v. Howard) or more (Waldorf v.
Shuta), as long as the award is within acceptable limits.
Damages can be awarded for pain and suffering (although there must be some level of
awareness—e.g. not in a coma, McDougald v. Garber), even in contemplating
empending doom (Sander v. Geib, Elston, Frost, P.A.). Beneficiaries may be awarded
damages for loss of decedant's functionality (e.g. mother's cooking and cleaning)
(DeLong v. County of Erie). Beneficiaries of a dead defendant can be awarded lost
earnings, based upon the life expectancy and educational background of parents, and
this can be quite high for young decedants (Andrews v. Reynolds Memorial Hospital,
Inc.).
Collateral source rule: A defendant owes damages even if the plaintiff receives
reimbursement from a separate source, such as insurance (Arambula v. Wells, Acuar v.
Letourneau).
2. Punitive damages: Punitive damages go beyond compensatory damages are are only
awarded in extreme cases (see McDougald v. Garber).
Defenses
The defenses listed here are affirmative in that the defendant has the burden of proof (Abraham,
137).
Shared Negligence
Contributory negligence is exactly the same as comparative negligence except for the way
damages are calculated. Each indicates that the plaintiff was partly negligent, which means that
the defendant must prove negligence on the part of the plaintiff. This may be done by showing
the plaintiff disobeyed a statute, for instance (Barker v. Kallash). A physician may not use
contributory negligence to avoid liability for later negligence by claiming that the patient's
injuries were originally caused by the plaintiff's negligence (Fritts v. McKinne).
contributory negligence
Completely bars recovery by the plaintiff. Has been abandoned by almost all states
(Abraham, 137).
comparative negligence
Reduces the amount by which the plaintiff can recover in much the same way as with
several liability for defendants. Res ipsa loquitur can sometimes still be used if the
plaintiff is negligent, allowing comparative negligence to distribute the damages
(Montgomery Elevator Co. v. Gordon). There are three types in use—a "pure" form, and
two "modified" forms (Abraham, 144):
pure comparative negligence
The defendant is liable for exactly the defendant's portion of negligence.
"more negligent" modified comparative negligence
If the plaintiff is more negligent than the defendant, recovery is barred—otherwise, the
defendant is liable for the exact portion of liability.
"as negligent" modified comparative negligence
If the plaintiff is as negligent or more negligent than the defendant, recovery is barred—
otherwise, the defendant is liable for the exact portion of liability.
Assumption of Risk
There are four different contexts in which the term "assumption of risk" is used in torts, and they
differ dramatically (Abraham, 153):
firefighter's rule: Firefighters and policemen are precluded from recovering from an injury
that occurs while rescuing someone from an accident caused by a taxpayer's own negligence.
This does not apply to volunteer firefighters, however (Roberts v. Vaughn).