Discussion Question

Can you think of a situation where an individual is a contributor to an outcome, but the outcome would have occurred regardless of the individuals involvement? Should a person be held liable if a particular damage would have occurred regardless of her involvement in a tortious activity? Why or why not?

Practice Question

Jessica and 5 friends are jumping up and down on a trampoline. Terry falls while bouncing, but the other friends continue to bounce. Terry is thrown from the trampoline by the force generated by the other bouncers. Is Jessica's conduct the cause in fact of Terry's injury?

• To prove negligence, the plaintiff must show that the defendant caused the injury. Causation in tort uses a cause-in-fact test and a proximate cause text in order to establish a factual link between the conduct of the defendant and the injuries of the claimant. In a cause-in-fact test, the question asked is but for the defendant's actions, would the harm have occurred? If the answer to this question is no, then causation cannot be shown, and vice versa. In the example from the practice question, Jessica's action in the circumstances amounts to the cause in fact of Terry's injuries. This is because it is the action of Jessica and the others who continued jumping on the trampoline that caused Terry to be thrown off and be injured. The but for question in this situation is, but for Jessica's and the rest jumping, would Terry have been thrown off the trampoline and hence injured?. The answer is no. meaning that it was Jessica and the rest jumping that caused Terry to be injured.