Contemporary Business and Online Commerce Law 7th Edition by Henry R Cheeseman

Exercise 9

Ethics Radio station KHJ was a successful Los Angeles broadcaster of rock music that commanded a 48 percent market share of the teenage audience in the Los Angeles area. KHJ was owned and operated by RKO General, Inc. KHJ inaugurated a promotion titled “The Super Summer Spectacular.” As part of this promotion, KHJ had a disc jockey known as “The Real Don Steele” ride around the Los Angeles area in a conspicuous red automobile. Periodically KHJ would announce to its radio audience Steele’s location. The first listener to thereafter locate Steele and answer a question received a cash prize and participated in a brief interview on the air with Steele. One KHJ broadcast identified Steele’s next destination as Canoga Park. Robert Sentner, 17 years old, heard the broadcast and immediately drove to Canoga Park. Marsha Baime, 19 years old, also heard the broadcast and drove to Canoga Park. By the time Sentner and Baime located Steele, someone else had already claimed the prize. Without the knowledge of the other, Sentner and Baime each decided to follow Steele to the next destination and to be first to “find” him.

Steele proceeded onto the freeway. For the next few miles, Sentner and Baime tried to jockey for position closest to the Steele vehicle, reaching speeds of up to 80 miles per hour. There is no evidence that the Steele vehicle exceeded the speed limit. When Steele left the freeway at the Westlake off ramp, Sentner and Baime tried to follow. In their attempts to do so, they knocked another vehicle, driven by Mr. Weirum, into the center divider of the freeway, where it overturned. Mr. Weirum died in the accident. Baime stopped to report the accident. Sentner, after pausing momentarily to relate the tragedy to a passing police officer, got back into his car, pursued and successfully located Steele, and collected the cash prize. The wife and children of Mr. Weirum brought a wrongful death negligence action against Sentner, Baime, and RKO General. Weirum v. RKO General, Inc., 15 Cal.3d 40, 539 P.2d 36, 123 Cal. Rptr. 468, Web 1975 Cal. Lexis 220 (Supreme Court of California)

1. What are the elements to prove negligence?

2. Did RKO General, Inc., act responsibly in this case? Why or why not?

3. Who wins and why?

Step 1 of 3

A.

The main elements of Negligence are as follows:

• Duty: The defendant owed the plaintiff a duty to act reasonably. A reasonable person would consider (1) the burden of taking precautions; (2) the likelihood of harm; and (3) the seriousness of the harm. If the burden of taking precautions is low and the likelihood of serious is harm is high, then a reasonable person would take that precaution. If the burden is high, and there is only a small risk of non-serious harm, then a reasonable person would not take that precaution.

• Breach: The defendant’s action violated that duty. In other words the defendant did not act reasonably.

• Causation: The defendant’s conduct caused the plaintiff’s harm and the harm was foreseeable.

• Damages: The plaintiff suffered actual damages like medical costs, lost wages, pain and suffering, etc.