I skipped chapter 14 because it was awful.

Part IV: Operations Management seems really important for both quidditch and karate! I sort of wish it was block 3, as the block 3 we dealt with was rough and I mailed it in. Though I guess I had a break on that block and now I can put the pedal to the metal.

This chapter is 40 pages but it looks way more interesting than some of the previous stuff.

The central idea that liability revolves around is establishing negligence (negligence is not eligible for punitive damages since punitive damages revolve around intention and negligence doesn’t count for that).

The four elements of negligence: duty, breach of duty, causation, and damages.

• DUTY: The defendant has a legal obligation to protect the plaintiff from unreasonable risk
  • In loco parentis: in place of the parent, establishes duty of teachers and coaches of minors
  • A special relationship can also occur in collegiate circumstances (college JV cheerleaders with no supervision)
• BREACH OF DUTY: The defendant has failed to meet the standard of care required.
  • Objective standard: the reasonably prudent person is the hypothetical individual who behaves rationally and if that person would suffer the injury that the plaintiff suffers, breach of duty can be established.
  • If the defendant has experience or education above the typical person they are accountable to that level of expectation
  • If the duty that was breached was a statuatory requirement, the breach of standard of care that results is called negligence per se. This automatically checks boxes 1 and 2 and the plaintiff just has to establish causation and damages.
• CAUSATION: A causal connection between the breach of duty and the resulting injury
  • When an act or failure to act directly causes the injury, it is proximate causation
  • The courts often have to address foreseeability in this context
  • I was expecting some other kind of causation in contrast to proximate causation but apparently not!!
• DAMAGES: When some actual loss or damage has been sustained as a result of the breach of duty. Threat of future harm is not sufficient.

If the four elements are established, negligence is established, but the defendant has recourses to defend against the negligence charge.

DEFENSES AGAINST NEGLIGENCE

• Statute of limitation
  • Often within 2 years
• Act of God
  • There has to be an actual natural disaster
  • The natural disaster has to be unforeseeable (not heeding warnings is once again negligence)
• Contributory and comparative negligence
  • Contributory negligence is when the plaintiff did not act as a reasonably prudent person and thus invited catastrophe, invalidating their entire claim
  • Comparative negligence is a modulation of the damages if the plaintiff and defendant are both partially at fault (percentages are established)
  • Pure comparative negligence is when the damages are modified directly by the percentages
  • Modified comparative negligence is when the damages can be completely invalidated if the plaintiff bears more than a threshold (e.g. 50%) of the fault
• Assumption of risk
  • Primary assumption of risk: the plaintiff understands and voluntarily agrees to accept the inherent risk of an activity.
    • In karate or quidditch, the activity bears inherent risk and playing voluntarily cannot make the supervisors automatically negligent if injury happens
    • Negligent supervision is not supposed to be an inherent risk, except when it is??
  • Secondary assumption of risk: the plaintiff deliberately chooses to encounter a known risk and in doing so acts unreasonably
• Immunity
  • Governmental immunity: when acting to effect law, organizations are immune to charges of negligence as per the FTCA
  • Charitable immunity: charities used to have more immunity than they do now but some may still exist
  • Good Samaritan statutes: individuals trying to help someone in distress may not be sued for negligence, depending on the state they’re in
  • Recreational use statutes: private landowners opening their land for free public use are immune to negligence charges
  • Volunteer immunity statutes: volunteers in many sports settings are protected from directly being sued
  • Sport safety acts/shared responsibility statute: similar to primary assumption of risk for a group sport activity

COMMON LIABILITY ISSUES:

• Lack of supervision
  • Quality of supervision
  • Quantity of supervision
• Improper instruction or training
  • Selection and supervision of properly qualified instructors
  • Adequacy of instruction
  • Proper progression of skill
  • Dissemination of safety rules and warnings
  • Mismatch of opponents
• Unsafe use of equipment
• Improper medical care
  • Preventative health concerns
  • Emergency medical care
    • Availability of qualified personnel
    • Clear protocol for outside emergency personnel
  • Medical malpractice
  • Fraudulent concealment
• Negligence in transportation
  • The selection of competent drivers
  • Selection of a safe mode of travel
  • Proper maintenance of vehicles
  • Proper training of drivers

Manufacturers can also be liable if their equipment is defective: Products Liability

• Negligence
  • Negligent design
  • Negligent failure to warn
  • Defenses:
    • Not the proximate cause of injury
    • Contributorily negligent
    • Assumed risk
    • Adequate warning was provided
• Strict Liability
  • The essential idea is whether something can be made sufficiently safe while still serving its purpose (social utility)
• Breach of Warranty
  • Express warranty
  • Implied warranty

WHOOF this was a big chapter! And an important one obv.