Monday, November 26, 2007

Another fun hypo

For your enjoyment, here is a proximate cause hypothetical that we discussed in class (with some added humor on my part).

It's a bartender's duty to cut off someone before he gets too drunk. Suppose our bartender, Bob, keeps serving Julio beer well after Julio reaches the point of severe intoxication. Julio finally leaves the bar, jumps in his Yugo, and drives down the road side-swiping every parked car in his path (Let's call this drunkard Pong). Eventually Julio nails a light pole. The light pole falls on George's house injuring his daughter Peaches who sleeps in the den. Peaches is taken to the hospital and due to her severe injuries becomes a paralyzed vegetable. Her mother, Veronica, was working at the Watering Hole that evening and is now upset that she wasn't there to protect her only daughter. Subsequently, Veronica commits suicide because she can no longer handle the stress.

At what point is Bob, the bartender, no longer liable for negligence?

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