A water pipe bursts, flooding a Metal Fabrication Company utility room and tripp

Question

A water pipe bursts, flooding a Metal Fabrication Company utility room and tripping the circuit breakers on a panel in the room. Metal Fabrication contacts Nouri, a licensed electrician with five years’ experience, to check the damage and turn the breakers back on. Without testing for short circuits, which Nouri knows that he should do, he tries to switch on a breaker. He is electrocuted, and his wife sues Metal Fabrication for damages, alleging negligence. What might the decedent's wife might successfully claim?

Explanation / Answer

The company might defend against this electrician’s claim by asserting that it had no duty to warn of a dangerous risk of which the electrician should have known. According to the problem, the danger is common knowledge in the electrician’s field, and should have been clear to this electrician, given his years of training and experience. In other words, there was most likely no need for the company to warn the electrician of the risk. The firm could also raise comparative negligence. Both parties’ negligence, if any, could be weighed and the liability distributed proportionately. The defendant could also assert assumption of risk, claiming that the electrician voluntarily entered into a dangerous situation, knowing the risk involved.

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