Exam 5: Negligence and Unintentional Torts

On a cold winter day, A slipped on the icy sidewalk at the entrance to B's shop. A injured her ankle as a result of the fall, and B hired a taxi to have her taken to the hospital to have her injured ankle examined. On the way to the hospital another automobile collided with the taxi, and A was seriously injured. The court would consider what a reasonable person would have done or foreseen in determining the duty of care in this case.

Jacqui and Penny decided to go into partnership in a small baseball equipment manufacturing firm. Jacqui raised $250,000 start-up funds, in large part on the basis of documents which she forged. These documents purported to show that they owned their factory, when in fact, they merely leased it. Jacqui spent all of the money on herself, and she now has no assets and has been jailed for 10 years. The creditors have contacted Penny and told her they will hold her liable for the loss.

Richard drank all the beer at the house one evening, and knowing he was not in a fit state to drive, decided to walk down the highway to the beer store for more. In order not to get lost, he followed the centre line on the road. Milton, who was driving too fast for his headlights on low beam, hit Richard from behind, and seriously injured him.

Sam had a swimming pool in the rear yard of his suburban home. The pool was enclosed on all sides by a 1.2-metre high wire fence, and entry to the pool area was by a gate, which Sam occasionally locked. One day, Sam drained the pool in order to have some repair work done, and accidentally left the gate closed but unlocked. A four-year-old child who lived in the next house to Sam entered the pool area by opening the gate, and was injured when he fell into the empty pool. Sam is liable for the injury to the child, because he had not warned his neighbours that the pool had been drained of water.

Andrew, a newly graduated lawyer, failed to do a proper title search of a property, which resulted in his clients actually owning only two-thirds of the property which they thought they had bought. Andrew will be held to the standard of care expected of the reasonable person.

On a cold winter day, A slipped on the icy sidewalk at the entrance to B's shop. A injured her ankle as a result of the fall, and B hired a taxi to have her taken to the hospital to have her injured ankle examined. On the way to the hospital another automobile collided with the taxi, and A was seriously injured. B would be liable for the injury suffered by A when A slipped on the sidewalk in front of his shop, because he should have foreseen the possibility of injury to customers when he failed to remove the ice.

Fun Unlimited Inc. was a manufacturer of children's toys and games. For the Christmas season it produced and offered for sale through its retail distribution channels a toy clown doll. The doll was made of fabric and wore a colourful clown suit with several large, bright red buttons down the front. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson purchased one of the clowns as a Christmas gift for their two-year-old granddaughter. The child was delighted with the toy and played with it for many hours. About a week after Christmas the child's mother noticed two of the buttons missing from the front of the clown suit. A thorough search of the house did not turn up the buttons. Later that day, as she supervised the child's play, the mother observed the little girl pulling a button off the clown suit and placing it in her mouth. Before she could reach the child to retrieve it, the button had been swallowed. In the several days that followed, the child had little appetite and showed considerable abdominal distension. When the child's mother took her to a doctor, X-rays were performed that showed the buttons were lodged in her upper intestinal tract, blocking her entire digestive system. Immediate surgery was required to remove the buttons. The child required considerable postoperative care at home, resulting in substantial time lost from work for both parents. a. Discuss the nature of the legal action which may be taken in this case, including the remedies and damages sought. Also discuss any defences that may be raised and render a decision b. If Fun Unlimited had discovered the ease with which the buttons could be removed by children and had ordered a recall of the product, how would this affect your answer to (a), if at all?

The Sampson Hair Products company is sued by a user who contracted a painful rash from using their shampoo. If Sampson manufactured the product in the same way and to the same standard as a reasonable shampoo manufacturer, and the rash was simply the result of an unusual allergy, Sampson will not be held liable.

Ping drove his automobile into a parking lot and, in doing so, collided with the side of a parked automobile that was owned by Nelson. Ping has a duty not to damage the automobile owned by Nelson.

On a cold winter day, A slipped on the icy sidewalk at the entrance to B's shop. A injured her ankle as a result of the fall, and B hired a taxi to have her taken to the hospital to have her injured ankle examined. On the way to the hospital another automobile collided with the taxi, and A was seriously injured. A was the author of her own misfortune, because she should have foreseen the risk of injury by walking on an icy sidewalk.

Where a negligence harms a business (for example, a factory set on fire), Common Law courts award damages to replace it, but have been reluctant to go further and award damages for economic losses (for example, lost profits from downtime). How do Quebec courts differ in their treatment of negligence?

Which of the following is a NOT a defence to negligence?

Sam had a swimming pool in the rear yard of his suburban home. The pool was enclosed on all sides by a 1.2-metre high wire fence, and entry to the pool area was by a gate, which Sam occasionally locked. One day, Sam drained the pool in order to have some repair work done, and accidentally left the gate closed but unlocked. A four-year-old child who lived in the next house to Sam entered the pool area by opening the gate, and was injured when he fell into the empty pool. The child's parents would be entirely at fault for allowing the child to enter on Sam's property without supervision.

A and B entered a variety store owned by C. A purchased two chocolate bars from C, and gave one to B. Unknown to A, B, or C the chocolate bar which A gave to B contained a piece of metal that had fallen into the chocolate mix when the candy bar was made. When B attempted to eat the chocolate, she damaged a tooth. She was obliged to have the tooth repaired by a dentist, and in addition lost a day's work because of the painful injury to her mouth. Her total loss amounted to $300.00.

A community ice rink posted a sign at the facility stating that persons using the rink are responsible for damage or any injury which they may incur. While taking a break from a hockey game, Wayne took a seat on the bench. A faulty light used to illuminate the ice surface exploded causing severe burns to Wayne. Using the principles of volenti non fit injuria and res ipsa loquitur discuss the success of Wayne's attempt to sue the community.

Four of the five following elements, when proved against a defendant, would constitute a successful action in negligence. Which one of the five would not?

On a cold winter day, A slipped on the icy sidewalk at the entrance to B's shop. A injured her ankle as a result of the fall, and B hired a taxi to have her taken to the hospital to have her injured ankle examined. On the way to the hospital another automobile collided with the taxi, and A was seriously injured. The injured ankle was the proximate cause of A's more serious injury in the automobile accident, because B had hired the taxi to send her to the hospital.

Mr. Ma operated a dry-cleaning plant. Even if there was no harm or any intention of harming anyone, he could still be sued for the mere fact that dry cleaning chemicals escaped from his property. No damages resulted. If the plaintiff were successful what kind of damages would the court most likely award?

On a cold winter day, A slipped on the icy sidewalk at the entrance to B's shop. A injured her ankle as a result of the fall, and B hired a taxi to have her taken to the hospital to have her injured ankle examined. On the way to the hospital another automobile collided with the taxi, and A was seriously injured. B is liable for the injury to A as a result of the automobile accident, because she would not have been travelling in the taxi if she had not injured her ankle at B's store.

A and B entered a variety store owned by C. A purchased two chocolate bars from C, and gave one to B. Unknown to A, B, or C the chocolate bar which A gave to B contained a piece of metal that had fallen into the chocolate mix when the candy bar was made. When B attempted to eat the chocolate, she damaged a tooth. She was obliged to have the tooth repaired by a dentist, and in addition lost a day's work because of the painful injury to her mouth. Her total loss amounted to $300.00.