Smith v. J.C. Penney Co., Inc.
Oregon Supreme Court
525 P.2d 1299 (1974)
- Written by Rose VanHofwegen, JD
Facts
Marilyn Smith (plaintiff) suffered severe burns when her fake fur coat burst into flames in a gasoline fire at a service station. Someone used a pressurized air hose to blow out a gas line. Gas sprayed from the vehicle’s gas tank, through an open doorway, and into the waiting room. A floor heater ignited the gas, which ignited Smith’s coat. Smith sued the gas station, its owners, the fabric manufacturer, the coat maker, and the store that sold it, J.C. Penney Co., Inc. (defendants). The service station owners asked the court to instruct the jury that if it found the other actors’ conduct such a predominant cause of Smith’s injuries that the station’s conduct became insignificant, then the jury could not consider the station’s conduct a substantial factor in causing Smith’s injuries. The court refused to give the requested instruction and the jury returned a $600,000 verdict against the station and the fabric manufacturer. Both appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Denecke, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 804,000 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.
