Smith v Leech Brain & Co Ltd
A defendant must take his victim as he finds him, so he is liable for the full extent of an injury even if it is greater than could have been foreseen because of the claimant's condition.
Facts
Mr Smith worked as a galvaniser at the defendants' factory. Because of the defendants' negligence, a piece of molten metal splashed out of a tank and burned his lip. He had a pre malignant condition, and the burn triggered cancer, from which he died three years later. His widow sued the employers for damages for his death.
Legal principle
Lord Parker CJ held that the employers were liable for the death. The test in The Wagon Mound (No 1) did not affect the principle that a tortfeasor takes his victim as he finds him. The burn was a foreseeable type of injury, and the employers were therefore liable for its full consequences, including the cancer and death, even though these could not have been foreseen. This is known as 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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