Reynolds
v. Texas & Pac. Ry. Co.
Court
of Appeals of
37
La.Ann. 694.
Prosser,
pp. 259-260
Facts: A fat lady was getting out
of a train and slipped and fell down stairs that weren’t lit and didn’t have a
handrail. She sued the railroad and
won. The railroad appealed.
Issue: Was the plaintiff’s injury
caused by the defendant’s negligence?
Rule: “[W]here the negligence of
the defendant greatly multiplies the chances of accident to the plaintiff, and
is of a character naturally leading to its occurrence, the mere possibility
that it might have happened without the negligence is not sufficient to break
the chain of cause and effect between the negligence and the injury.”
Analysis: The court reasons that the
mere possibility that a harm would have come to the plaintiff in the absence of
the defendant’s negligence does not break the chain of causation between the negligence
and the harm.
Conclusion: The judgment of the lower court
was affirmed.