| Venue: | NY Ct. App. |
| Facts: | Mrs. Palsgraf, waiting by a train, is bonked by some scales which fell as a result of the shock from the explosion of some fireworks. The box of fireworks had fallen on the tracks when a guard on a train, in an effort to help a passenger aboard, knocked them out of the passenger's hands. |
| Posture: | Judgment for the plaintiff at trial, affirmed on appeal. |
| Issue: | Is the railway liable to Mrs. Palsgraf? Basically, was there a duty breached here? |
| Holding: | No. There was none. Reversed. |
| Rule: | The risk reasonably perceived defines the duty to be obeyed, and risk imports relation; it is risk to another or to others within the range of apprehension. |
| Reasoning: | Negligence is the absence of care according to the circumstances.
We can't require extraordinary prevision as the normal standard
of conduct.
Negligence isn't a tort unless it results in the commission of a wrong. One who seeks redress at law must show more than just harm: there has to be harm resulting from negligence. |
| Dicta: | Dissent: Everyone owes to the world at large the duty of refraining from those acts that may unreasonably threaten the safety of others. |