tort law cases Flashcards
Donoghue v Stevenson
Mrs Donoghue and her friend went to a café. Her friend purchased ice cream and ginger beer for them. The ginger beer was in an opaque bottle. Mrs D poured some out, drank it, then poured the rest out and found a decomposed snail. As a result she became ill.
Point of Law: No claim in contract as she had not purchased the drink. But a claim in negligence could succeed as the company had a duty of care to its customers who were under Atkin’s explanation “their neighbour”. This had been breached.
Blyth v Birmingham Waterworks (1856)
The standard of care that must be reached is that of the “reasonable man”.
Paris v Stepney Borough Council (1951)
Although the council did not provide goggles for their mechanics (this was ok in the 1950s) they should have taken extra care with their one eyed mechanic who (unfortunately) lost the use of his good eye when it was hit with a metal filing
-the reasonable man takes more care when the situation demands it
