A state statute requires machinery in industrial plants to include automatic shut-off switches accessible to each employee working on the machine. Steel Company's (SC's) equipment does not have the switches. Trudy, an SC employee, suffers an injury that an accessible shut-off switch would have prevented. Trudy's best theory for recovery against SC is
A) assumption of risk.
B) negligence per se.
C) res ipsa loquitur.
D) strict liability.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Negligence per se applies when a defendant violates a statute or regulation designed to protect a specific class of people and the plaintiff is a member of that class who suffered the type of harm the statute or regulation was intended to prevent. In this case, Trudy is a member of the class of employees the statute is designed to protect, and her injury is the type of harm that the statute was intended to prevent. Therefore, Trudy's best theory for recovery against SC is negligence per se.

A State Statute Requires Machinery in Industrial Plants to Include