Question

Principle : An employer is liable for an injury caused to an employee in the course of the employment.
Facts : ‘A‘ and ’B‘ were working in a factory as unskilled laborers. A was carrying a basket of stones on his head. B was sitting on the ground. When A crossed B, all of a sudden a stone fell down from the basket and hit B on his head. B died instantaneously.
This question consists of legal principle(s) (hereinafter referred to as ‘principle‘) and facts. Such proposition may or may not be true in the real and legal sense, yet you have to conclusively assume them to be true for the purposes of this section. Principles have to be applied to the given facts to arrive at the most reasonable conclusion. Only one of the alternatives, i.e., (A), (B), (C), or (D) is the most reasonable conclusion. In other words, in answering the following questions, you must not rely on any principle except the principles that are given herein below for every question. Further you must not assume any facts other than those stated in the question. The objective of this section is to test your ability in legal aptitude, study of law, research aptitude and problem solving ability even if the ’most reasonable conclusion‘ arrived at may be absurd or unacceptable for any other reason.

• A. The employer will be liable
• B. The employer will not be liable
• C. A will be liable
• D. Both employer and A will be liable

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

The correct option is (A): The employer will be liable.

Answer 2

The principle says an employer is liable for an injury caused to an employee in the course of employment. A and B were both laborers at the same factory, and B died after a stone fell from the basket A was carrying. Let's check each option.

1. Option A: The employer will be liable: B was an employee, and he was fatally injured by a stone that fell from a fellow employee's basket while both were engaged in their factory work. This is exactly an injury caused to an employee in the course of employment, which the principle makes the employer liable for.
2. Option B: The employer will not be liable: This directly contradicts the principle, which establishes the employer's liability for exactly this kind of workplace injury.
3. Option C: A will be liable: The principle fixes liability on the employer for injuries to employees in the course of employment, it does not say the individual co-worker whose act caused the accident is personally liable.
4. Option D: Both employer and A will be liable: The principle only speaks to the employer's liability, it says nothing about A also being separately liable alongside the employer.

Since B was injured by a co-worker's act while both were carrying out their factory duties, the principle places liability on the employer.

Therefore, the correct answer is The employer will be liable.

Answer 3

Break the principle into its ingredients: the injured party must be an employee, the injury must occur in the course of employment, and if both hold, liability is placed on the employer specifically rather than on the individual coworker.

1. The employer will be liable: Both ingredients are met, B was an employee, and he was fatally struck by a stone falling from a fellow labourer's basket while both were carrying out their factory work. That satisfies an injury to an employee in the course of employment, which the principle assigns to the employer.
2. The employer will not be liable: This runs directly against both ingredients being satisfied, the injury did occur to an employee and did occur in the course of employment.
3. A will be liable: The principle's rule names the employer specifically as the one liable for this kind of injury, it does not extend personal liability to the coworker whose act happened to cause the accident.
4. Both employer and A will be liable: This has the same defect as the option above, the stated principle only speaks to the employer's liability, it says nothing about A being separately liable alongside him.

Since B's injury happened to an employee in the course of employment, the ingredients match the principle's rule, and liability falls on the employer alone.

Therefore, the correct answer is The employer will be liable.