Strict Liability (S/L) DAD (Dangerous activities, Animals, and Defective/dangerous products)

Question 1

What are the elements to strict liability?

Answer 1

Absolute duty to make P’s person or property safe

Actual and proximate causation

Damages

Question 2

What are the three categories where strict liability applies?

Answer 2

1. Abnormally dangerous activities
2. Wild Animals (and other animals if known to be dangerous by owner)
3. Products Liability

Question 3

What are abnormally dangerous activities?

What factors are considered to determine whether something is an abnormally dangerous activity?

Is there a limit on this category of strict liability?

Answer 3

1. Not commonly engaged in
   AND
2. inherent, foreseeable, and highly significant risk of harm

Factors considered:
-> look to gravity of harm,
-> inappropriateness of place,
-> limited value of activity.

Limited to:
- harm expected from activity

Question 4

What are the three categories of strict liability linked to animals?

Answer 4

-> wild animals
-> abnormally dangerous animals
-> trespassing animals

Question 5

What is a wild animal?

When is the owner of a wild animal strictly liable?

Answer 5

Wild animals:

Definitions of wild animals:
-> R2d includes all animals not by custom devoted to the service of humankind where it is being kept;
-> R3d excludes animals that pose no obvious risk of causing substantial personal injury

Owner/possessor is S/L FOR harm done by wild animal DESPITE owner’s precautions to prevent harm, as long as harm arises from
-> dangerous propensity characteristic of animal or about which owner/possessor has reason to know
OR
-> owner/possessor S/L for injuries caused by P’s fearful reaction to unrestrained wild animal

Question 6

When is the owner of an abnormally dangerous animal held to be strictly liable?

Answer 6

Abnormally dangerous animals
-> owner/possessor S/L for injuries if knowns or has reason to know of dangerous propensities abnormal for the animal’s category or species and harm results

Answer 7

Trespassing animals
-> owner/possessor S/L for reasonably foreseeable damage caused by the animal while trespassing
-> domesticated animals exception does not apply if owner knows or has reason to know that the domestic pet (e.g. cat and dog) is intruding on another’s property in a way that has a tendency to cause substantial harm
-> general negligence standard applies if pet strays onto a public road and contributes to an accident there

Question 8

What are the defenses to S/L?

Answer 8

Contributory negligence NOT a defense in contributory-negligence jurisdictions -> does not bar recovery

Comparative-fault jurisdictions - negligence may reduce P’s recovery under a S/L claim (R3d approach); courts divided, some do not allow reduction

Assumption of Risk/Knowing contributory negligence -> bars recovery

Statutory privilege -> no S/L for D performing essential public services

Trespassers -> property possessor not S/L for injuries inflicted by his animals against a trespasser, except, in some jurisdictions, for injuries inflicted by a vicious watchdog