Reference no: EM133338903
1. Miller Thurber owns a bulldog, which he keeps chained in his backyard. The dog often barked and growled at anyone passing by the house on the sidewalk. One morning, Josie Taylor, an employee of the electric company visited the Thurber property to read the meter located in the backyard. Josie had read the meter previously and knew about the dog. She peeked into the yard and did not see the dog so she entered the backyard. The chain, which the dog was usually attached, was on the ground and the dog was nowhere to be seen. As she entered the back yard an approached the meter the dog appeared out of nowhere and attacked her. She sustained serious injuries and was hospitalized as a result of the severe bites.
In this case please determine if absolute liability applies and if the tortfeasor will be strictly liable to the injured party. Also please discuss relevant defenses and if there are any defenses how would they apply to the case.
2. hypothetical - STRICT LIABILITY Heather Muffin works at the municipal zoo. She feeds and cleans the cages for the various species of monkeys on exhibition. One day, Heather received a telephone call from "Spider" Tomey, exhibits supervisor, who instructed her to report to the exotic bird building to substitute for another employee who was ill. Heather had never worked with these birds before and was unfamiliar with their habits, although, she had received feeding and watering instructions from Spider. As she was cleaning one of the walk-in cages, a toucan landed on the back of her neck, scratching and biting at her ears. The scratches required stitches. There were no municipal ordinances discussing the zoo or its operation, apart from the enabling act that established the zoo and its supervision by the city's department of parks and recreation. Discuss liability, and the defenses of consent, assumption of the risk, contributory and comparative negligence.
3. Olaf Nurdoff owns a gas stations. While a tanker truck was filling his underground fuel tanks, Olas was using a welding torch inside his garage area to repair a customer's car. He inadvertently knocked over the torch, still lit, which fell into a puddle of gasoline from the tanker. The puddle ignited and burned across the ground to the tanker pipe connected to the underground tanks. Both the tanker truck and the fuel in the underground tanks then ignited and exploded. Several patrons and their vehicles were severely injured.
In this case please determine if absolute liability applies and if the tortfeasor will be strictly liable to the injured party. Also please discuss relevant defenses and if there are any defenses how would they apply to the case. Also show how Restatement of Torts §520 applies to this case.
4. The Balladonna Pharmaceutical Company manufactures medicines. It uses certain chemical solutions that turn bad and must be destroyed. These solutions are kept in steel barrels in the firm's back lot, awaiting pick up from a local waste disposal company. Bud Marvelle works for the trash company. He had never collected trash from Belladonna before, as he normally rode the residential trash routes. Bud's supervisor failed to instruct him to take a special sealed tank truck to get Belladonna's chemicals. Instead, Bud drove an open-top trash truck used to haul dry garbage. Bud tossed the barrels into the truck, and several of them ruptured and leaked. As Bud drove down the highway to the dump. sludge spilled out of the back of the truck onto an automobile driven by Madison Ventura. Madison stopped and touched the sludge caked across the front of his car. it made his hands burn. Frightened Madison drove to a local hospital emergency room. His skin had absorbed much of the chemical waste, and he became severely ill and had to be hospitalized for several weeks.
In this case please determine if absolute liability applies and if the tortfeasor will be strictly liable to the injured party. Also please discuss relevant defenses and if there are any defenses how would they apply to the case.