Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Donoghue v Stevenson case brief

Donoghue v Stevenson case brief summary
[1932] AC 562

FACTS
-On August 26, 1928 Donoghue and a friend were at a cafe in Glasgow.
-Donoghue's companion ordered a bottle of ginger beer for Donoghue.
-The ginger beer was in an opaque bottle.
-Donoghue drank some and her friend lifted the bottle to pour the remainder of the ginger beer into the tumbler. 
-The remains of a snail in a state of decomposition dropped out of the bottle into the tumbler. 
-Donoghue later complained of stomach pain and her doctor diagnosed her as having gastroenteritis and being in a state of severe shock. 
-Donoghue sued Stevenson, the manufacturer of the drink, for negligence. 
-She was unsuccessful at trial and appealed the decision to the House of Lords.

ISSUE:
Is there liability in negligence for injury caused by another in the absence of a contract?

HOLDING:
Yes.  The court allowed the appeal.

ANALYSIS:
-The majority states that in these kind of cases, the manufacturer does owe a duty of care to future consumers. 
-A manufacturer knows upon production that the overall goal of their product is to be consumed, and not simply to be purchased by a distributor.
-The court states that Winterbottom does not apply here, as that case dealt with a claim of breach of contract. There was no contract in this case.
-The judges held that this does not mean that there cannot be a relationship between the two parties in which duty is owed. 
-They also state that absence of a contract between the two parties this does not mean that a duty is not owed. 
-Overall, the court found that in cases like this where the manufacturers are manufacturing goods for the eventual consumption of consumers, they do have a duty to take reasonable care to ensure that their products are safe for consumption.

DISSENT:
-Lords Buckmaster and Tomlin, in the dissent, state that the common law principles cannot be changed and that to allow this appeal would change too much.
-The dissent states that there can be no special duty attaching to the manufacture of food apart from that implied by contract or imposed by statute.

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