Torts - Third Restatement Causal Set Question
Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 1:27 pm
Hypo - Let's say A negligently sells B a fake ID and B goes to C's bar where C negligently starts a fire that burns B.
When dealing with causation in fact with respect to A's liability to B under Restatement 3rd ยง27 cmt f, A's negligence might not have been a sufficient but-for cause of B's burn injury (wouldn't have been at the bar w/o the fake ID but wouldn't have been burned w/o C's negligence), but is still a necessary element of sufficient causal set with C's negligence and therefore a cause in fact.
Prox/legal cause fails though because C's negligence is an intervening cause that is unforeseeable and therefore superseding.
Sound about right?
When dealing with causation in fact with respect to A's liability to B under Restatement 3rd ยง27 cmt f, A's negligence might not have been a sufficient but-for cause of B's burn injury (wouldn't have been at the bar w/o the fake ID but wouldn't have been burned w/o C's negligence), but is still a necessary element of sufficient causal set with C's negligence and therefore a cause in fact.
Prox/legal cause fails though because C's negligence is an intervening cause that is unforeseeable and therefore superseding.
Sound about right?