OH Bar Torts and Negligence 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A store patron slips on spilled juice that had been on the floor for two hours. To recover against the Ohio store owner, the patron must generally show:
- The owner had actual or constructive notice of the hazard (Correct answer)
- The hazard existed, regardless of the owner's knowledge
- Another customer caused the spill
- The store lacked a written inspection policy
Correct answer: The owner had actual or constructive notice of the hazard
Premises liability for invitees requires actual or constructive notice of the hazard, which a two-hour duration can establish constructively.
Question 2: Under Ohio's employer intentional tort statute (R.C. 2745.01), an injured employee suing the employer outside workers' compensation must prove the employer acted with:
- Deliberate intent to injure or belief injury was substantially certain (Correct answer)
- Gross negligence in maintaining equipment
- Recklessness as to workplace safety
- Simple negligence plus an OSHA violation
Correct answer: Deliberate intent to injure or belief injury was substantially certain
R.C. 2745.01 limits employer intentional torts to deliberate intent to injure, defining 'substantially certain' as requiring that same deliberate intent.
Question 3: A driver violates an Ohio statute requiring headlights after dusk and collides with a pedestrian. The statutory violation constitutes:
- Negligence per se, though the plaintiff must still prove causation and damages (Correct answer)
- Conclusive proof of liability for all resulting harm
- Mere evidence of negligence with no legal effect
- Strict liability for the collision
Correct answer: Negligence per se, though the plaintiff must still prove causation and damages
Violation of a specific safety statute is negligence per se in Ohio, but proximate cause and damages remain the plaintiff's burden.
Question 4: In Ohio, a claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress by a bystander generally requires that the plaintiff:
- Witnessed or was in the zone of danger of a real physical peril (Correct answer)
- Merely learned of a relative's injury by phone
- Suffered any degree of upset or anxiety
- Had a contractual relationship with the defendant
Correct answer: Witnessed or was in the zone of danger of a real physical peril
Ohio limits NIED recovery to plaintiffs who observed or were exposed to actual physical peril, causing serious emotional distress.
Question 5: Two defendants are found liable for the plaintiff's $100,000 noneconomic damages; Defendant A is 30% at fault and Defendant B is 70% at fault. Under Ohio's apportionment statute, Defendant A owes:
- $30,000, because liability for noneconomic damages is several only (Correct answer)
- $100,000, under joint and several liability
- $50,000, split equally between defendants
- Nothing, because B bears the majority of fault
Correct answer: $30,000, because liability for noneconomic damages is several only
Ohio abolished joint and several liability for noneconomic damages, making each defendant liable only for its proportionate share.
Question 6: A trespassing 8-year-old is injured on an unfenced backyard swimming pool. The Ohio doctrine most likely to impose liability on the landowner is:
- The attractive nuisance doctrine (Correct answer)
- Res ipsa loquitur
- The open and obvious doctrine
- Assumption of the risk
Correct answer: The attractive nuisance doctrine
Ohio adopted the attractive nuisance doctrine in Bennett v. Stanley, protecting child trespassers from foreseeable artificial dangers.
Question 7: In Ohio, the open and obvious doctrine operates to:
- Negate the landowner's duty of care as to obvious hazards (Correct answer)
- Shift the burden of proof to the defendant
- Reduce damages under comparative fault only
- Apply only to trespassers
Correct answer: Negate the landowner's duty of care as to obvious hazards
An open and obvious danger eliminates the duty element entirely in Ohio premises cases, rather than merely reducing recovery.
OH Bar Torts and Negligence 3
A store patron slips on spilled juice that had been on the floor for two hours.
To recover against the Ohio store owner, the patron must generally show: