Kennedy v. Southern California Edison Co.
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
219 F.3d 988 (2000)

- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Kennedy (plaintiff) brought a wrongful death suit against Southern California Edison Co. (SCEC) (defendant), seeking to recover for the death of his wife. Kennedy claimed that her death was due to cancer caused by nuclear radiation from nuclear rods that SCEC manufactured. In such cases, the proper jury instructions must state that a plaintiff must show that exposure to radiation from the defendant’s product in reasonable medical probability was a substantial factor contributing to the decedent’s risk of developing cancer. However, the jury instructions that Kennedy proposed and that the court adopted stated that Kennedy must show that exposure to radiation from SCEC’s product in reasonable medical probability contributed to his wife’s risk of developing cancer. The jury found in favor of SCEC. Kennedy appealed based on the jury instructions.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Hawkins, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.