Kramer
Service, Inc. v. Wilkins
Supreme
Court of
184
Prosser,
pp. 260-263
Facts: The plaintiff cut his head
on some glass in a hotel, and it was clear that the hotel’s negligence was the
cause of that harm. Later, skin cancer
developed at the point of injury. The plaintiff
sued for both injuries and won at trial.
The defendant appealed.
Issue: Was the hotel’s negligence
the actual cause of the skin cancer?
Rule: The plaintiff must prove as
an element of the negligence cause of action that the defendant’s negligence
was the actual cause of the harm done to the plaintiff.
Analysis: The court finds that the
hotel’s negligence was not the actual cause of the skin cancer because
correlation does not imply causation and nobody knows what causes cancer.
Conclusion: The finding of liability was
affirmed, but the award was reversed and remanded to find out how much the plaintiff
should be awarded for the original cut alone rather than the cut and the
cancer.