Strict Liability Law

Personal Injury Compensation for Liability Without Fault

May 13, 2009 Suzanne Bechard

In personal injury law, strict liability means the plaintiff need not prove the defendant acted either negligently or intentionally in causing his or her injury.

The personal injury caused by intentional or negligent conduct results because someone is at fault. When strict liability is imposed, however, a person may be held responsible even if he or she acted with great care to avoid harming anyone, so long as the person is engaged in certain kinds of activities. Thus, strict liability is often called "liability without fault."

Strict liability is imposed as a matter of public policy when a person voluntarily engages in certain inherently dangerous activities. As a matter of case strategy, a personal injury plaintiff may prefer to sue under a theory of strict liability, if possible, because a strict liability lawsuit does not require the plaintiff to establish that the defendant engaged in intentional wrongdoing or failed to use a reasonable standard of care.

Abnormally Dangerous Activities Can Lead to Strict Liability

Some activities, such as the use of explosives, are considered so inherently dangerous that a person who engages in one of those activities is held responsible for any damage caused regardless of fault. Abnormally dangerous activities create a high risk of harm relative to their public utility, and courts will weigh various factors against the specific facts at hand to determine whether an activity is abnormally dangerous relative to its utility.

Strict Liability Lawsuits Can Arise from Keeping Wild Animals as Pets

Keeping a wild animal may lead to a strict liability lawsuit. Wild animals are animals that are not recognized as capable of being domesticated, such as tigers, snakes and primates. Their behavior is unpredictable; they tend to be dangerous; and when they injure someone, the injuries can be devastating.

Therefore, having a wild animal as a pet may lead to strict liability if the animal injures someone. The test is not whether the particular animal has been tamed, but whether the animal belongs to a class of animals recognized as incapable of being tamed. Additionally, it is irrelevant how careful the owner was in trying to prevent the animal from injuring others. If the wild animal causes personal injury, the owner may be strictly liable.

Domesticated Animals with Known Dangerous Propensities

Domesticated animals such as dogs and cats are typically considered harmless. A dog or cat that is dangerous to people or other animals is regarded as an anomaly. One who keeps a domestic animal that he or she knows or has reason to know has dangerous propensities is subject to strict liability for the harm the animal causes.

The law regards a domestic animal with known dangerous propensities the same way it regards wild animals. However, strict liability for a domestic animal's known dangerous propensity is limited to the harm which results from that particular propensity. For example, a dog that is known to bite people will not lead to strict liability if the dog causes injury by jumping on someone. For that, the plaintiff must prove fault.

Dog Bite Law and Strict Liability

The saying, "Every dog gets one free bite" is not true. A dog may make its tendency to bite known, but fall short of actually biting someone. In other words, if the dog acts as if it might bite someone at some point, the dog's owner will be on notice that the dog has the dangerous propensity to bite people. If the dog does bite someone, the owner may be held strictly liable.

Source: Restatement (Second) of Torts §§ 506, 509, 519-520 (1965).

Additional Resource: How to Hire an Attorney

Disclaimer: This article is in no way intended as legal advice. For help with specific legal issues, one should consult a licensed attorney in one's local area.

The copyright of the article Strict Liability Law in Law, Crime & Justice is owned by Suzanne Bechard. Permission to republish Strict Liability Law in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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