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Hinckley's Negligence Case Study

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The realm of business law is often strange and bewildering to those not fully engrossed by it. Many of the rulesets differ depending on where they are practiced and may vary on those involved. This did not stop Erin Brockovich, a former beauty queen from Kansas and not formally educated in the practice of law, from being able to see right from wrong. After reviewing a case for the sale of real-estate that contained medical records, she wondered why the records would ever be present in such a case. This lead to her begin asking more questions. After talking to the residents of Hinckley, researching public county water records, and discovering some of the actions taken by PG&E she and Masry believed they could prove negligence.
Negligence can be defined as a breach of legal duty to act carefully, resulting in injury to another or damage to another’s property (Sigismond, 2014, p. 92). The research and testimony of Hinckley residents places PG&E negligent in their use of …show more content…
PG&E, in an effort to deny any financial responsibility in the matter, filled demurs against each complaint. To demur is to dispute a legal pleading or a statement of the facts being alleged (West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2, 2015). Essentially, if the judge preceding over the hearing found PG&E at no fault, or had no merit to any of the claims, the case would not be able to be brought and PG&E would not be liable for any further cases brought against them. Fortunately, the judge happened to be a resident of Barstow, a town not far from Hinckley, agreed with Masry and Brockovich and denied the motion to demur the complaints. Citing his concerns of the abhorrent actions of PG&E, not just the use of hexavalent chromium but the deceptions used to convince people that it was a safe

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