Mrs. Rusholme engaged the firm of Saunders and Watts Ltd. to refinish floors in certain rooms of a home owned by her and her husband in Red Deer, Alberta. She told Mr. Saunders that she and her husband would be away on vacation and that she would leave a key for the workers with her next door neighbor. She asked Saunders to leave the windows partially open for ventilation and to give the key back to her neighbour who would close the windows when the floors were dry. The Rusholmes' house was serviced by gas. Among the appliances was a gas stove in the kitchen with a pilot light (a small flame permanently burning which will ignite the burners or oven when the burners or oven are turned on) which could be turned off manually. The downstairs floors of the house, including that of the dining room, were to be sanded; the dining room was next to the kitchen with no door between the two rooms. After sanding the floors, Saunders and Watts applied a sealer that they had bought from Standard Household Products Ltd. The label on each can of sealer contained the following warning:
DANGER-FLAMMABLE
Do not smoke. Adequate ventilation to the outside must be provided. All spark-producing devices and open flames (furnaces, all pilot lights, spark producing switches, etc) must be eliminated in or near working areas. Avoid prolonged breathing of vapours. Wear a vapour cartridge mask. Replace cartridge before saturation.
On completing their work Saunders and Watts discussed what they should do about the doors and windows they had opened to allow the vapour to escape. Saunders recalled a reference to a recent case he had read about in the newspaper in which repairers who had left doors open after they had finished their work had been held liable in damages when thieves had entered and stolen valuable contents. The two men then closed all the doors and windows and left the key on the kitchen table beside the stove.
About 8 hours after Saunders and Watts left, an explosion occurred in the house and it was seriously damaged. On returning home from their vacation the Rusholmes found their home in ruins, and were dismayed to discover that they had neglected to renew the fire insurance policy, which had expired only a few days before they had left on vacation.
The Rusholmes brought an action for damages against the firm of Saunders and Watts Ltd. and against Standard Household Products Ltd.
Question:
As you have been retained by the Rusholmes as their lawyer – advise
them on what unintentional tort would most likely be the basis of
their lawsuit and what has be established by them in order to be
successful. Please anticipate any defences that either defendant
could raise and whether vicarious or primary liability
applies.
*Please do not copy any previous answers. Thank you.
It is important to understand that the unintentional tor was committed by both Saunders and Watts to damage the whole house by shutting all the windows after the sealer application. This is totally opposite to the warning issues This was referenced to the similar incidence that was published in the newspaper recently in which the blame was put on the repairers for shutting the windows and doors open for ventilation and this results in burglary At the same time they also ignored the gas stove in the kitchen and forgot to turn off the pilot
It is important that all the important clauses must be included in the contract between Mrs Rusholme and the firm of Saunders and Watts Ltd for the related work and different precautionary measures that are needed to be taken. A right purpose can be served with the help of a well-written contract as it has to be followed by both the parties and must make sure that no damage is done to the property.
Mr. Rusholme can blame Saunders and Watts Ltd's firm for the ignorance on two basis. First, despite facilitating the detailed warning, the pilot light of the burner was not turned off and secondly, they closed all the doors and ventilation and left the keys to the kitchen table of neighbours without providing any information.
It is the responsibility of the customer to make a request to the neighbour to monitor the repair work personally. In case it is not feasible, the customers need to present there while the performance of the work to look for the safety measures and the implementation of the work. At the same time, the customer should be vigilant and renew their fire protection insurance policy on time
Mrs. Rusholme engaged the firm of Saunders and Watts Ltd. to refinish floors in certain rooms...