IRAC: Lincoln-based Alpha Explosives and John Deere & Home Depot

Module 4-IRAC Homework #1
History B17A 60 71631
Professor
DATE 
Module 4-IRAC Homework #1
First IRAC
Issue
Under Business Law, is Lincoln-based Alpha Explosives liable for the medical costs incurred by bystanders during the demolition of Bakersfield PG&E's old power plant?
Rule
Strict Liability Tort – Applies to a business that deals with abnormally dangerous activities that create high risk not generally found in the community, such as explosives.
Negligence – Applies to a business if it fails to exercise reasonable care in its actions, resulting in injury and damage to another person or property. Four elements must be proven to establish a successful negligence lawsuit: duty, standard of care, breach, and causation.
Duty – The legal responsibility by the defendant to the plaintiff, particularly the responsibility to act with reasonable care to prevent the latter from being harmed. This duty can arise from the possession or operation of the instrument of the injury, the connection between the parties involves, or by law.
Standard of Care – Revolves around the concept of the reasonable person standard (whether the defendant acted with care as the average person would have in the same circumstances). When determining what kind of protection was owed to the plaintiff, one must distinguish between a trespasser, license, or invitee. For a license, the defendant must warn the person of lurking danger and remove the danger.
Breach – The proof that the defendant failed to fulfill a duty of care to the plaintiff either as a consequence of action or inaction by the responsible party. It must be clear how the duty of care was breached. The guilty party must have done or not done something an average person would do if they were in the same circumstance.
Causation – After showing that there was indeed a breach of the duty of care, the plaintiff must show that there is indeed a direct link between the defendant's conduct and a resulting injury. The injury must have been foreseeable at the time and is usually determined from all of the available evidence.
Analysis
The first rule (Strict Liability Tort) applies because Alpha Explosives deals with abnormally dangerous activities that create high risk not typically found in the community. The demolition company's responsibility was to manage these unique risks and prevent any external parties from suffering damage. They are liable if anything goes wrong with the explosives. While it is unclear why the explosion did not go as planned, Alpha Explosives are liable for all damages resulting from the demolition exercise. The second rule (Negligence) also applies because Alpha Explosives failed to exercise reasonable care in its actions, resulting in injuries and damages to other people. The demolitions company owed a duty of safety to the bystanders (a duty owed to foreseeable persons who could have been injured by the defendant's lack of standard of care).
Alpha Explosives invited the bystanders to watch the demolition exercise. Therefore, the company had a duty to warn them of the dangers involved and eliminate all possible risks of the bystanders getting injured. Alpha Explosives failed to maintain the standar...