Robinson v Post Office
A defendant must take the victim as he finds him, including an allergy, and was liable for the claimant's reaction to an injection given after an injury at work.
Facts
Mr Robinson, an employee of the Post Office, slipped on an oily ladder, because of his employer's negligence, and cut his leg. He went to the doctor, who gave him an anti tetanus injection. He was allergic to the serum, and developed encephalitis, causing brain damage. The doctor had not tested him properly for allergy before giving the full dose, but a proper test would not have revealed the allergy in time.
Legal principle
The Court of Appeal held that the Post Office was liable for the brain damage. Orr LJ said that it was foreseeable that the injury would require medical treatment, and that the Post Office must take the claimant as it found him, including his allergy to the serum. The doctor's failure to test properly did not break the chain of causation, because it would have made no difference. The case applies the egg shell skull rule.
Related cases on remoteness and intervening acts
- Corr v IBC Vehicles Ltd [2008] UKHL 13, [2008] 1 AC 884
- Hughes v Lord Advocate [1963] AC 837
- Jolley v Sutton London Borough Council [2000] 1 WLR 1082
- Knightley v Johns [1982] 1 WLR 349
- Lagden v O'Connor [2003] UKHL 64, [2004] 1 AC 1067
- Lamb v Camden London Borough Council [1981] QB 625
- McKew v Holland & Hannen & Cubitts (Scotland) Ltd [1969] 3 All ER 1621
- The Oropesa [1943] P 32
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