Lasley v. Combined Transport, Inc.
Supreme Court of Oregon
261 P.3d 1215 (2011)
Combined's (defendant) truck spilled cargo on a highway, forcing Mark Lasley to stop; Clemmer (defendant) then struck his car with such force it caught fire and killed him. Lasley's father (plaintiff) sued both, Clemmer admitted liability but Combined denied it, and the trial court excluded evidence that Clemmer was intoxicated; the jury apportioned 78 percent fault to Clemmer and 22 percent to Combined, but the court of appeals reversed for improperly excluding the intoxication evidence, and Lasley appealed.
Whether, in deciding if a defendant's act is a factual cause of a plaintiff's harm, the effect of the defendant's conduct, and not whether that conduct fell below the expected standard of care, is the relevant consideration.