판결 이유
The 'thin skull' rule (egg-shell skull rule) survived The Wagon Mound (No 1). A tortfeasor must take the victim as they find them. It is sufficient that the type of damage (physical injury) was foreseeable; the tortfeasor is liable for the full extent of injury even if it is more severe than expected due to a pre-existing vulnerability.
사실관계
A worker was burned on the lip by molten metal due to his employer's negligence. The burn was minor, but it triggered cancer in the pre-malignant condition of his lip. He died of cancer three years later.
판결 요약
Lord Parker CJ held that The Wagon Mound did not affect the thin skull rule. The type of harm (burn/physical injury) was foreseeable. The defendant was liable for the full consequences, including the cancer, even though that outcome was not foreseeable.
주요 인용문
"The test is not whether these employers could reasonably have foreseen that a burn would cause cancer and that he would die. The question is whether these employers could reasonably foresee the type of injury he suffered, namely, the burn."
— Lord Parker CJ
후속 처리
Confirmed the compatibility of the thin skull rule with the Wagon Mound foreseeability test.