Marshall v. Nugent
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
222 F.2d 604 (1st Cir. 1955)
Walter Harriman and his passenger, Frank Marshall (plaintiff), were forced off the highway when a truck owned by Socony-Vacuum Oil Co. (defendant) cut a corner into their lane. As the Socony driver helped Harriman try to pull his car back onto the road, he suggested Marshall and Harriman step around the truck to warn oncoming traffic of the obstruction; while doing so, Marshall was struck and severely injured by a car driven by Robert Nugent (defendant), who swerved to avoid the parked truck and instead hit the guardrail and then Marshall. A jury found Socony liable for $25,000 but found for Nugent, and Socony appealed, arguing its driver's negligence was not the proximate cause of Marshall's injuries from the separate collision with Nugent's car.
Whether a defendant's negligent conduct can be the proximate cause of injuries a plaintiff suffers after the original negligent act itself has ended, when the risk of those injuries was a foreseeable consequence of that conduct.