Vicarious Liability

Vicarious Liability

100

Frolic vs Detour

• Frolic - substantial deviation in pursuit of personal business; employee is responsible and not employer

• Detour - slight deviation that is sufficiently related to employment; employer is responsible

200

Appararent Authority Rule

1. Rule 1  
   Business is liable for acts of independent contractor even if they don’t have control over IC, as long as business held the IC out as to have or knowingly permitted the IC to assume authority (e.g. anyone would assume a doctor is an employee of a hospital)

2. Rule 2
   Plaintiff must have relied on the representation of the authority by the IC (e.g. a patient would have relief on the hospital rather than a specific doctor for care)

300

Joint Venture Factors

1. Common goal of the partnership

2. Agreement to pursue goal (express or implied)

3. Right of each member to control enterprise 

4. Financial interest (usually applied to business) 

400

What is an Independent Contractor

 IC controls the physical details of work, uses own methods and manners; free from control and direction of employers except as to the result of the work

500

Scope of Employment 

1. Act was what the employee was hired to do 

2. Act serves the employer 

3. Incident occurred at work 

4. Act was needed to perform employment 

Strict Liability

100

What do it be?

Overall liability without fault - even if acting with appropriate care

200

Activities considered to be automatically abnormally dangerous

• Blasting and fireworks and explosives are always ADA
• Storing and transporting toxic chemicals is often viewed as ADA
• Crop dusting - lol

300

Difference between Negligence elements and SL elements

Proximate and Actual Cause are still required but duty and breach are irrelevant as liability is there nonetheless

400

Name the three types of animals and what the strict libaility rules are

Wild Animals: strict liability for everything they do

Domestic: strict liability only if owner knows/has reason to know the animal is dangerous, no SL for trespassing

Livestock: Owner is liable for any trespassing by animals, no excuses, strict liability applies

500

Abnormally Dangerous Activities Factors

1. High degree of risk (creates harm to others)

2. Likelihood of great harm if harm does happen

3. Inability to mitigate (reasonably)

4. Not common usage/activity for the geographic area

5. Inappropriate as to the location within the area

6. Value to community is outweighed by the danger

Products Liability

100

What are the torts and theories of liabilities

Torts:

1. Manufacturer defect
2. Design defect
3. Failure to warn

Theories

1. Negligence
2. Breach of warranty
3. Strict liability

200

Who are the possible defendants for products liability

Manufacturer

Distributor

Seller

Supplier

Retailer

Customer = plaintiff

300

Strict Liability for Products Liability

• One who sells any product in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous to the user or consumer or to his property is subject to liability for physical harm thereby caused to the ultimate user or consumer or to his property IF:
  • The seller is engaged in the business of selling such a product, and
  • It is expected to and does reach the user or consumer without substantial change in the condition in which it is sold
• The rule applies even if
  • The seller has exercised all possible care in the preparation and sale of product and 
  • The user or consumer has not brought the product from or entered into any contractual relation with the seller 

400

Causation for Products Liability

• In every case, P must establish that:
  •  D manufactured the product;
  • Sold it;
  • It was defective; 
  • The defect existed when it left D's possession; and
  • Defect was direct and proximate cause of P's injury

500

Types of Implied Warranty

1. If the buyer tells seller purpose of purchase and relies on seller's implication that item can meet that purpose = implied warranty - AKA Implied Warranty of Fitness for a Purpose 
2. When item is place in commerce there is a guarantee that item will work as expected when used properly - AKA Implied Warranty of Merchantability 

Products Liability (again)

100

Express vs Implied Warranty

One is express lol

200

What defenses are specific to PL and explain

• Obvious Danger
• State of Art (Unknowable Defect)
•  Misuse of Product

300

Services in Product Liability

• Differences between services and products
• PL does not exist for services or other things are not actual products 
• Negligence could exist but not under products liability

400

Who in the chain is liable for Negligence?

• Everyone. Plaintiff can pick - attorneys go after the money
• Liability on all sellers of item as they all have duty to inspect items

500

Explain the 3 Products Torts Available 

Manufacturer: Something wrong with the specific item because of error that does not impact the other similarly made products 

Design: The whole thing is flawed - every single item

Failure to Warn: 

• Failure to warn about risks associated with products
• Basically the warning label on every product

Bonus

100

What is Delaney's last name?

Harris

200

What is Delaney allergic to?

nothing but will also accept "stupidity"

300

When is my birthday?

June 12, 2003

400

How many siblings do I have?

2 whole siblings

2 half siblings

(2 siblings in law)

500

What is my middle name?

Maria