Tort law worksheet with answers

An employer can be liable for torts committed by an employee during their work. This is called:

1. AVicarious liability
2. BNovus actus interveniens
3. CStrict liability for all acts
4. DContributory negligence

In England and Wales, a negligence claim for personal injury must usually be started within:

1. ATwelve years of the injury
2. BOne year of the injury
3. CThree years of the injury or the date of knowledge
4. DSix years of the injury

Statements made by MPs during debates in the UK Parliament are protected in defamation by:

1. AAbsolute privilege
2. BQualified privilege
3. CThe defence of honest opinion
4. DThe public interest defence

An employer does not give goggles to a worker already blind in one eye, who loses his good eye at work. Under Paris v Stepney BC, the employer was:

1. ANot negligent, because goggles were not normally provided
2. BNegligent, because the possible harm to this worker was very serious
3. CStrictly liable for all eye injuries
4. DNot negligent, because the risk of an accident was the same for all workers

Workmen leave an open manhole with paraffin lamps. A boy knocks a lamp in, causing an unexpected explosion and burns. In Hughes v Lord Advocate, the defendants were:

1. ANot liable, because the explosion was unforeseeable
2. BNot liable, because the boy was a trespasser
3. CLiable only for half of the damage
4. DLiable, because burns were a foreseeable type of harm

A surgeon fails to warn a patient of a small risk of a serious complication. The patient would have had the operation anyway, but later. The risk materialises. In Chester v Afshar, the House of Lords held:

1. AThe surgeon was liable, modifying normal causation principles
2. BThe surgeon was liable only for the cost of the operation
3. CThe surgeon was not liable, as the "but for" test failed
4. DThe patient consented, so there was no claim

In Hedley Byrne v Heller, liability for negligent misstatement arose because:

1. AThe statement caused physical injury
2. BThere was a contract between the parties under which the bank was paid a fee for the reference it gave
3. CThere was a special relationship in which the claimant reasonably relied on advice given with skill
4. DThe defendant intended to deceive

A mother arrives at hospital about two hours after a road accident and sees her family injured and covered in blood. In McLoughlin v O'Brian, she:

1. ACould recover, as she saw the immediate aftermath
2. BCould recover only for financial losses
3. CCould not recover, as she was only told about it
4. DCould not recover, as she was not at the scene