A water pipe bursts, flooding a Metal Fabrication Company utility room and tripping the circuit breakers on a panel in the room. Metal Fabrication contracts Nouri, a licensed electrician with five years experience, to check the damage and turn the breakers back on. Without testing for short circuits, which Nouri knows that he should do, he tries to switch on a breaker. He is electrocuted, and his wife sues Metal Fabrication for damages, alleging negligence. What might the firm successfully claim in defense? (See Chapter 6, Part 6-5: Defenses to Negligence)

6-5. Defenses to Negligence

Defendants often defend against negligence claims by asserting that the plaintiffs have failed to prove the existence of one or more of the required elements for negligence. Additionally, there are three basic affirmative defenses in negligence cases (defenses that a defendant can use to avoid liability even if the facts are as the plaintiff states): assumption of risk, superseding cause, and contributory and comparative negligence.