Many civil cases revolve around the idea of corporate negligence. For this to be proven, it must first be shown that the company in question actually did owe a specific duty to the individual or individuals starting the suit. It then has to be shown that the duty was breached through negligence. Beyond that, the breach must then have caused some sort of harm to the other party.
Car accident cases are an excellent example. Another could be privacy breaches by credit card companies.
Auto defects
You may already know that negligent drivers can be held responsible for car accidents, but what if it was the manufacturer that was negligent? For instance, perhaps the company knew that the braking systems could fail in cold weather. They covered it up because a recall would be expensive and would generate bad press, or they simply failed to identify the design problem when they absolutely should have done so.
Meanwhile, a driver’s brakes go out at -10 degrees. He loses control of his car and strikes another car. People in both vehicles are injured. The company had a duty to produce a safe vehicle, failed to do so and directly caused harm as a result.
Confidential information
Or, perhaps a credit card company makes a mistake and emails out a list that contains customers’ confidential financial information. Customers begin having their identities stolen and hundreds of thousands of dollars are lost overnight. The company was negligent in its duty to protect that information and directly cost customers as a result.
These are just two examples, but they help illustrate how negligence plays a role at the corporate level. Consumers need to know all of the legal options they have when this occurs.
Source: Chron, “What Is Corporate Negligence?,” accessed Jan. 05, 2018
