Question

In order to establish a claim for negligence, the plaintiff must prove that:

Multiple Choice

• The defendant was either comparatively or contributorily negligent.

• The plaintiff was contributorily negligent.

• The plaintiff sustained nominal damages.

• The plaintiff acted as a reasonable person under the situation.

Answer 1

The element that must be proved is causation. The plaintiff must be able to show that the negligent actions of the defendant directly caused the injuries to the plaintiff. The defendant is not necessarily responsible for the injuries of the defendant just because they were in breach of duty. For example, suppose a woman receives an operation and, prior to that operation, a nurse fails to scrub up properly. During the surgery, a sponge is left inside the woman and she develops an infection. In this case, both the surgeon and the nurse were in breach of duty, but the injuries are not due to the nurse’s breach of duty. Causation can only be shown in the case of the surgeon’s breach of duty, therefore, even though the nurse did not meet minimal standards of behavior, she did not cause the injuries to occur and cannot be held negligent in this case.Finally, the plaintiff must be able to prove damages. Most times, the plaintiff has a stack of medical bills and records that clearly indicate that they were injured. It is important, however, that the physician notes the nature of the injury. A note saying you have a chronic back condition is going to carry far less weight than one saying you have a spinal hernia due to damage sustained in a car accident.

Hence ( B ) part is a correct answer