Glascow Corporation v. Muir
House of Lords
[1943] AC 448
- Written by Mary Phelan D'Isa, JD
Facts
A group of small children (plaintiffs) who were in a tearoom passageway were scalded by hot tea spilled from a tea urn carried by two men. Neither the urn nor the tea belonged to the tearoom. And the two men who spilled the tea were not employed by the tearoom. The two men did not inform the tearoom proprietor (defendant) when they arrived at the tearoom. The tea spilled when one of the men lost his grip on the urn handle, but no evidence was offered to explain what caused him to lose his grip. The children sued the tearoom proprietor and alleged that the proprietor should have cleared the passageway before the two men were allowed to enter with the urn. After a trial, the trial judge dismissed the action for a want of evidence to establish negligence. The appellate court reinstated the action, and the parties agreed to the amount of damages before submitting the case to the House of Lords to review the question of liability.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Lord McMillan, J.)
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