Kenneth Warner examines causation & industrial disease
It is a basic principle of the law of torts that a defendant will be liable only for the harm that the defendant has caused. In cases of doubt it is incumbent on the plaintiff to show, on the civil standard of proof, that the tortious conduct of the defendant caused the injury that is complained of. In effect, evidence that the tort is the most likely cause of the harm will suffice to discharge the burden, but in principle anything short of that should result in a rejection of the plaintiff’s claim. This rule can cause great difficulties for a plaintiff, where there exist multiple possible causes in fact for the ultimate harm suffered. They may be multiple “guilty” causes; as where the claimant has been exposed to toxic agents with a number of different employers, each independently capable of producing the same disease. Again they may be “guilty” but separate causes which are capable of working cumulatively to bring about the plaintiff’s ultimate harm, as
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