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DRAFT FOR ATTORNEY REVIEW — NOT FINAL

Favreau v. Miller, 591 A.2d 68 (1991)

Citation
Favreau v. Miller, 591 A.2d 68 (1991)
Parent Document
Favreau v. Miller, 591 A.2d 68 (1991)
Jurisdiction
Vermont (state)
Effective Date
1991-03-29

Other Sections in This Document (106)

Full Text

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We believe, however, that in the adjudication of a lawsuit for relief from personal injury, the concepts of tort and negligence law provide the more straightforward way to describe the respective duties and liabilities of the parties. Where a tenant leases substandard premises, she ought recover from the landlord her excess rental payments, her consequential damages for "annoyance and discomfort" and, in certain instances, punitive damages. Id. at 163, 478 A.2d at 210. The landlord broke a promise—at least one implied by the law— and the tenant has the right to recover her losses. But where the tenant seeks a damage award for her personal injuries, other questions arise: What caused the injuries? Were they the result of the landlord's breach? Did they flow from the tenant's own carelessness? The law of negligence is best suited to answer these questions and has developed rules for their accommodation. For example, under Vermont's comparative negligence statute, a plaintiff can recover only if her own negligence contributed to no more than half the cause of the accident, and even then only in proportion to the amount of negligence attributed to the defendant. 12 V.S.A. § 1036. If she was primarily to blame for her fall and injuries, she cannot recover. In essence, plaintiff is asking us to do away with these principles, for, in her view, all damages stemming from defendant's breach of the warranty would be recoverable. Fault would not enter the calculation. We believe it is unwise to abandon negligence principles in this context absent legislative direction.[1]