Law Commons^™

Respondent Superior As An Affirmative Defense: How Employers Immunize Themselves From Direct Negligence Claims, J. J. Burns

Michigan Law Review

Most courts hold that where a defendant employer admits that it is vicariously liable for its employee's negligence, a plaintiff's additional claims of negligent entrustment, hiring, retention, supervision, and training must be dismissed. Generally, courts apply this rule based on the logic that allowing a plaintiff's additional claims adds no potential liability beyond that which has already been admitted. Furthermore, since the additional claims merely allege a redundant theory of recovery once a respondeat superior admission has been made, the prejudicial evidence of an employee's prior bad acts which often accompanies direct negligence claims against employers can be excluded without …

The First-Party Insurance Externality: An Economic Justification For Enterprise Liability, Jon D. Hanson, Kyle D. Logue

Articles

This Article explores the insurance and deterrence implications of important and long overlooked facts. Consumers are insured through first-party mechanisms against most of the risks of product accidents. However, first-party insurers rarely and imperfectly adjust premiums according to an individual consumer's decisions concerning exactly what products she will purchase, how many of those products she will purchase, and how carefully she will consume them. Such consumer decisions we refer to as "consumption choices. " This failure by first-party insurers to adjust premiums according to consumption choices gives rise to a first-party insurance externality. Based on this insight, this Article offers …

A Uniform Comparative Fault Act--What Should It Prove?, John W. Wade

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The Committee has determined to treat the resultant delay as serendipitous and to use it for the purpose of improving the Act and presenting it in the best shape possible. To this end, as the Chairman of the Special Committee, I have prepared this presentation for publication. The presentation is intended to serve two purposes: (1) to provide for the legal profession information as to the present status of the Act, and the provisions it now carries, and (2) to solicit criticisms and suggestions for improvement from interested persons.

I am therefore presenting here the Uniform Comparative Fault Act in …

Negligence--Assumption Of Risk And Contributory Negligence--Abolition Of Assumption Of Risk As A Defense Separate From A Contributory Negligence In Autobmobile Guest-Host Situations Negligence In Automobile Guest-Host Situation, S. Anthony Benton

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a guest in an automobile driven by defendant, was injured when defendant's vehicle collided with another car. In plaintiff's suit against defendant and her insurer the jury found that defendant was causally negligent as to management and control and position on the highway, and that plaintiff was causally negligent as to lookout. After apportioning 85 percent of the negligence to defendant and 15 percent to plaintiff, the jury found that plaintiff had assumed the risk with respect to defendant's management and control and position on the highway, and the trial court therefore entered judgment dismissing the complaint. On appeal, …

Evidence - Presumptions - Statutory Presumption Of Due Care In Wrongful Death Action, Francis X. Beytagh Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Consolidation of two actions arising from a multi-vehicle highway accident resulted in verdicts in both causes against appellants. One action was brought against appellants by the administratrix of a deceased driver under a wrongful death statute, and resulted in a verdict for the administratrix because of a statutory presumption of deceased's due care. The other action was a personal injury suit by a third party against appellants and the administratrix as co-defendants, and resulted in a verdict exonerating the deceased driver, despite circumstances raising an inference of his negligence. Appellants' motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and new trial were …

Negligence - Proximate Cause - Liability Of Tavern-Keeper To Third Person Injured By One To Whom Tavern-Keeper Had Made And Unlawful Sale Of Liquor, Alan C. Miller

Michigan Law Review

In a jurisdiction having a statute prohibiting sales of liquor to minors and persons actually or apparently intoxicated, defendants, four tavern-keepers, served alcoholic beverages to an eighteen-year-old minor. Fifteen or twenty minutes after leaving the last of the taverns, the intoxicated minor negligently drove a motor vehicle and collided with plaintiff's car, killing plaintiff's husband. Plaintiff brought this action as representative of her husband's estate and as owner of the damaged car. Her complaint charged not only that defendants unlawfully and negligently sold and served alcoholic beverages to a minor under circumstances constituting notice that he was a minor, but …

Comparative Negligence And Automobile Liability Insurance, Cornelius J. Peck

Michigan Law Review

The purpose of this article is not to re-plow the ground of history, case law, and statutory developments which has been so competently tilled by others. Nor is the purpose to give a detailed consideration of each of the practical matters mentioned above. Instead, the focus of this article is on the relationship between comparative negligence and automobile liability insurance. Insurance rates and accident statistics, rather than rules of law and cases, are the primary materials. Such a consideration of the subject it might be hoped would give a positive and substantiated answer to the frequently debated but never documented …

Admiralty - Collision - Last Clear Chance, Erik Stapper

Michigan Law Review

The City of Calcutta anchored in the navigation channel as an emergency precaution on a foggy night. The vessel was hit by a scow in tow of the tug Brooklyn, whose navigator had observed the anchored ship for ten minutes. The scow sank and its owner sought to hold the City of Calcutta liable for failure to get underway after the fog had lifted. Held, libel dismissed. Even if the Calcutta was remiss in not moving, no liability could attach because the Brooklyn had the last clear chance of avoiding the accident. Arundel Corp. v. The City of …

The Michigan Supreme Court - An Analysis Of Recent Decisions, Frederic F. Brace Jr., James A. Park

Michigan Law Review

It is the purpose of this comment to attempt to determine and evaluate just what the court's role has been. Attention will be directed to selected areas of non-statutory and statutory law, with specific emphasis placed upon the areas of contributory negligence and workmen's compensation.

Negligence - Last Clear Chance - Evidence Insufficient As A Matter Of Law, Theodore G. Koerner

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, having fallen asleep at night at the side of a narrow dirt road, was run over by defendant's automobile. He alleged that defendant was negligent in operating a vehicle at an excessive speed without proper lights. Defendant pleaded that plaintiff was contributorily negligent by being asleep in the road, and plaintiff then replied that defendant had the last clear chance to avoid the injury. On appeal from a judgment of involuntary nonsuit, held, affirmed, three justices dissenting. The plaintiff, by falling asleep at the side or in the middle of the road, was contributorily negligent as a matter …

Negligence - Duty Of Care - Liability Of Owner Of Place Of Amusement For Injury To Spectator Caused By Act Of Third Person, Harry D. Krause

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a spectator at a public wrestling match, sustained injuries when another spectator threw a filled Coca-Cola bottle into the crowd. A disturbance had been in progress for several minutes. The guards hired by defendant, the owner of the establishment, had made no effort to stop it. The bottle was grabbed from the tray of a drink vendor who had been instructed to retain all bottles and to serve drinks in paper cups only. The trial court granted a nonsuit. On appeal, held, reversed. The evidence of the owner's negligence in not protecting the spectator from this injury sufficed …

Negligence - Breach Of Duty - Assured Clear Distance Ahead Doctrine, Herbert A. Bernhard

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, while driving an automobile through a tunnel, collided with defendant's truck, which was stopped without lights. The Pennsylvania Vehicle Code requires an operator to drive at such a speed as will enable him to stop within the "assured clear distance ahead." Plaintiff alleged he was temporarily blinded by the sudden change from bright sunlight to the darkness of the tunnel. The jury found for plaintiff, but defendant's motion for judgment n. o. v. was granted. On appeal, held, affirmed, one justice dissenting. Plaintiff's failure to stop his automobile within the assured clear distance ahead constituted contributory negligence as …

Sales - Contributory Negligence - Use As A Defense In Action For Breach Of Implied Warranty, Thomas S. Erickson

Michigan Law Review

Defendant installed an oil burner in plaintiff's apartment building. The burner failed to function properly and exploded two months after installation. There was no evidence that the furnace was repaired subsequent to the explosion. Plaintiff continued to use the furnace for four years until a second explosion caused considerable damage to the building. Upon inspection, the cause of the explosions was found to be a defective system of heating and piping the oil. Plaintiff brought this action for breach of implied warranty to install the furnace in a good and workmanlike manner and recovered consequential damages. On appeal, held, …

Contributory Negligence - Duty Of Pedestrian To Look While Crossing Intersection With Light, Harvey A. Howard S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff was crossing a busy intersection in reliance on a green traffic light in his favor when he was struck by defendant's automobile. Testifying in his own behalf, plaintiff said that he waited until the light changed to green and traffic on both sides stopped before proceeding to cross the street. He further stated that he was hit just before reaching the other side of the street. He did not see defendant's automobile before it struck him. At the conclusion of this testimony defendant moved for a directed verdict on the ground that plaintiff had failed to show freedom …

Negligence-Duty Of Care-Pedestrian Crossing Between Cars Of A Train, Joseph M. Kortenhof

Michigan Law Review

While attempting passage between cars of a train which was obstructing a public crossing in violation of a statutory time limit, plaintiff was severely injured when the train was set into motion without warning. Plaintiff testified that he did not see the engine of the train since it was at the end of a long string of cars. The trial court excluded plaintiff's evidence that for thirty years it has been the custom of the town's inhabitants to cross between the cars of a train which was blocking a public crossing. Upon completion of plaintiff's case, the trial court sustained …

Torts-Breach Of Duty-Right To Recover For Prenatal Injuries, Patrick J. Ledwidge S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, as administrator, brought an action to recover for the death and conscious suffering of plaintiff's intestate, allegedly injured, while a viable child within her mother's womb, by the tortious act of the defendant. Defendant's demurrer to the declaration was sustained. On appeal, held, affirmed. Neither the infant nor its personal representative has a cause of action for prenatal personal injuries. Bliss v. Passanesi, (Mass. 1950) 95 N.E. (2d) 206.

Torts-Malpractice-Duty Of Drugless Healer To Refrain From Or Discontinue Treatment, Morton L. Simons

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, a drugless healer licensed under statute as a sanipractor, undertook to treat plaintiff for what both parties realized was diabetes. Defendant followed standard sanipractic procedure, prescribing diets and baths. The treatment was unsuccessful, and plaintiff's health deteriorated greatly. Apparently on the theory that a sanipractor incurs no liability if he follows the accepted methods of his school, the trial court, notwithstanding jury's verdict for plaintiff, rendered judgment for defendant. On appeal, held, reversed and remanded, with directions to enter judgment on the verdict Where a drugless healer knows or should know that his method of treatment is not …

Negligence-Application Of The Rescue Doctrine Where Personal Property Is Involved, Thomas Hartwell

Michigan Law Review

The defendant's servant, while parking the defendant's automobile, negligently failed to secure the brakes. At defendant's request, plaintiff police officer attempted to enter the automobile after it had started to roll, hoping to avert any possible collision. In so doing, he slipped on a stone and was injured. Defendant demurred to plaintiff's complaint on the grounds that the plaintiff was contributorily negligent, as a matter of law, and that the rescue doctrine should not apply where that rescued from peril created by the defendant is not human life or the rescuer's own property. Held, the rescue doctrine was correctly …

Torts-Imputed Negligence In Michigan, Joseph N. Morency, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Husband was driving his wife and another passenger from work when, due to a combination of the negligence of the husband and that of the defendant, a collision occurred resulting in the death of the wife. Plaintiff as administrator of the wife brought an action under the Death Act against the defendant to recover damages for the minor children of the deceased to the support of whom the deceased had contributed. The trial court directed a verdict in favor of the defendant on the ground that the contributory negligence of the husband as driver was imputed to the wife as …

Death By Wrongful Act - Effect Of Recovery By Plaintiff's Intestate, Jerome J. Dick

Michigan Law Review

The decedent recovered from defendant a judgment for personal injuries which was satisfied during deceased's lifetime. Six months later the deceased's death was caused by these same injuries. This action was brought by plaintiff as next of kin to recover damages for the wrongful death under the New York Wrongful Death Act. Held, the judgment recovered by plaintiff's intestate is a bar to this action notwithstanding the enactment of survival statutes which sweep away the rule that an action for personal injuries abates on the death of the injured party or wrongdoer. Fontheim v. Third Avenue Ry., 257 …

Negligence - Proximate Cause - Intervening Act Of A Child, Stanton J. Schuman

Michigan Law Review

Defendant's truck was overloaded with unslaked lime and a piece which fell off was picked up by the child plaintiff, who put the lime in a bucket of damp earth which he was carrying. In the resulting explosion plaintiff lost one eye and injured the other. Held, the intervening act of a person over whom the defendant had no control broke the chain of causation. Leoni v. Reinhard, 327 Pa. 391, 194 A. 490 (1937).

Torts - Liability Of Landlord To Tenant For Disrepair, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A landlord made an oral, month-to-month lease of premises to one Harris, who occupied the premises as a beauty shop in which he employed his wife. Both at the time of the letting and subsequently, an agent of the landlord agreed to repair a defective cellar stairway, but failed to do so. The lessee's wife was injured by the collapse of the stairway; thereupon, the tenant and his wife sued the landlord. A verdict was directed against the tenant and judgment non obstante veredicto was entered against the wife. The wife appealed. Held, even assuming the wife not contributorily …

Torts - Proximate Cause -Remoteness Of Damage, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff brought an action for damages to his realty, alleging that the murder of his sister-in-law, on his property, by the defendant's decedent, induced numerous curiosity seekers to trespass on his land to view the scene of the crime. Held, the defendant's demurrer was sustained, for the damages were too remote. Koontz v. Keller, 52 Ohio App. 265, 3 N. E. (2d) 694 (1936).

The English Rule As To Liability For Unintended Consequences, George C. Tilley

Michigan Law Review

The question how far a defendant is liable in tort for the unintended consequences of his wrongful act, generally supposed to have been settled for England by the case of In re Polemis and Furness, Withy & Co., Ltd., has recently been reopened by the House of Lords decision in the case of Liesbosch Dredger v. S. S. Edison. Defendants, owners of the Edison, negligently sank the plaintiffs' dredger Liesbosch while the latter was being used by the plaintiffs in performance of a profitable contract to construct a harbor at Patras, Greece. There was evidence that, …

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Carriers of Passengers - Duty to Stop at Station to Permit Passenger to Alight-Contributory Negligence of Passenger Plaintiff's intestate was riding in the front end of a crowded vestibule car in the coach next to the tender of the eengine. When the train stopped at his station he tried to leave by the front end, but found the door from the vestibule closed. As he did not know how to open it, or was unwilling to be carried by his station, he stepped from his platform to the bumper of the tender and tried to follow it to the side …

Economic Aspects Of The Law Of Master And Servant, In Its Relation To Industrial Accidents, Clarence A. Lightner

Michigan Law Review

We hear it said frequently that the relations between master and servant have completely altered during the past century and that, due to the introduction of machinery, workmen are much more frequently and more seriously injured than formerly. In fact, these statements have become trite. It takes an article, such as that written by Arthur B. Reeve, in the February, 1907, number of Charities and the Commons, entitled "The Death Roll of Industry," to bring to our minds what these statements actually mean; to impress us with the seriousness of present conditions. Although statistics upon the matter are not as …