Cases - Causation

Question 1

Causation

Daniels

Answer 1

• Judge Powell
• Proximate cause is a fiction the courts use to cut off liability at a certain poin

Question 2

Causation

Ryan

Answer 2

• D negligently set fire to woodshed which set fire to π’s house near buy. Damage to house was remote and could not have been anticipated.
• Negligent person is liable for proximate cause, not remote damages. If the event is too remote, the event lacks immediacy, thus, no recovery

Question 3

Causation

Bartolone

Answer 3

• D’s were liable for an accident in which the P suffered minor injuries that then aggravated pre-existing schizophrenic condition
• D must take the P as he finds her and may be liable for aggravating a preexisting condition
• Thin-Skull Rule: Preexisting conditions don’t cut off liability, but P must show condition of P before and after

Question 4

Causation

Polemis

Answer 4

• While discharging cargo from a ship a wooden plank fell causing a spark, which lit the petrol causing the destruction of the boat
• “Negligence in the air”
• A consequence of a negligent act does not have to be foreseeable to be actionable

Question 5

Causation

Wagon Mound I

Answer 5

• Oil spills causes a fire, the dock owners sue
• D is only liable for the consequences flowing from his negligent act that are foreseeable to a reasonable person at the time of the act

Question 6

Causation

Wagon Mound II

Answer 6

• Oil spills causes a fire, the other boat owners sue
• If D did nothing to prevent the injury, responsible for foreseeable consequences, even if remote

Question 7

Causation

Palsgraf

Answer 7

• Fireworks case - Train workers help a man on to a train, the man drops his fireworks, the fireworks cause something to fall and hit someone on the head
• P only liable if he owes a legal duty to the P, and breaches that duty, and if the resulting harm was reasonably foreseeable
• Cardozo - Forseeability
• Andrews - Proximity

Question 8

Causation

Yun

Answer 8

• Car struck P’s father when he tried to retrieve a spare tire after they had fallen off the car
• An intervening circumstance, which is unforeseeable or an extraordinary event, breaks the chain of causation
  a. Defect in spare tire did not cause the injuries, it occurred after the P recklessly crossed the highway.
  b. The spare malfunction only created the circumstances upon which the subsequent intervening negligence occurred but there was nothing proximate between

Question 9

Causation

Derdiarian

Answer 9

• Epileptic driver causes car to swerve into construction site
• Intervening acts by 3rd party do not automatically sever liability if the intervening act is normal or foreseeable consequence of D’s negligence

Question 10

Causation

Watson

Answer 10

• Arsonist lights a match into a fuel spill and it burns
• Criminal Act Considered Unforseeable Intervening Event, Cutting Off Liability

Question 11

Causation

Fuller

Answer 11

• Doctor commits suicide after accident causes seizures
• Driver is held liable because doc was following irresistible impulse to suicide as a result of accident

Question 12

Causation

McCoy

Answer 12

• Rescuer is injured after being hit by car walking away from accident site where he rescued driver of defective Suzuki
• Suzuki is found liable because it caused the injury
• Danger invites rescue

Question 13

Causation

Kelly

Answer 13

• Social host liable for guest who drank and drove and caused injury
• Foreseeable intervening crime (DUI), so liability is not cut off

Question 14

Causation

Enright

Answer 14

• Grandmother ingested DES while pregnant with mother who developed abnormalities in reproductive system resulting in P’s premature birth
• Third-generation plaintiff
• Harm to mother, which results in harm to a later-conceived child does not establish a cause of action in favor of the child against original tortfeasor’ it was not immediate, direct, or proximate