Question

1. John is lifting weights at the gym and negligently drops the barbell. The force causes vibration in the walls that causes a painting down the hall to fall off the wall and injure Mary. She sues John. How will the court determine John’s liability from a “Proximate Cause” standpoint?

2. John and Mary are in a car accident. John is 75% at fault. How will the suit result differ between comparative and contributory negligence states?

3. Explain the difference between an employee and an independent contractor

Answer 1

Answer 1=  Proximate cause indicates that there was a logical reason that forced the accident to happen and it was caused by the defendant. So as in this case, John's negligence caused the falling of the barbell that results in the falling of the paining on Mary. Thus John has the duty of care for Mary and therefore John has to compensate Mary

Answer 2= contributory negligence defines that in case of an accident, the contribution of the negligent party will decide the compensation. So in the case, John has 75% of fault thus he will be accused of the accident so John cannot claim the damage from the accident

In case of comparative fault Indicates that the party can claim the damage even if he has 99% contribution to the damage. So John can ask for the compensation in case of the accident where he has a fault of 75%

Answer 3= An employee is an individual whose work is highly regulated by the employer All the machines, equipment and the manner in which the work has to be done will be controlled and supervised by the employer

On the other hand, the independent contractor does not have such a limited operation. He is free to operate the work in a manner of his choice and he will be responsible for the machines and equipment to be used.