Also known as: actual cause · actual causes · actually caused · cause in fact · factual causation
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The factual connection between a defendant's conduct and a plaintiff's harm that exists when the harm would not have occurred but for the defendant's conduct.
Arthur Abrams and Andrew Avery both negligently discharge firearms toward Amber Alonzo during a confrontation. One bullet strikes her and causes serious injury, but ballistics cannot identify which gun fired it. Because both men acted negligently and Alonzo cannot prove which shot caused the wound, the court shifts the burden to each defendant to show his conduct was not the actual cause.
Abigail Alvarez develops cancer after her mother took DES during pregnancy. Multiple manufacturers produced the drug, and Alvarez cannot identify the exact maker of the pill her mother ingested. The court permits her to proceed against several producers who supplied a substantial share of the market, requiring each to disprove that its product supplied the actual cause of the injury.
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Two hunters fire in the same direction. One pellet injures a bystander. The victim cannot identify which hunter fired the pellet. The court requires each defendant to prove his shot was not the actual cause of the specific injury.
Atlas Ventures suspends an employee without a hearing required by due process. The employee later proves the suspension would have occurred even after a proper hearing. Because the procedural violation did not change the outcome, the court finds no actual causation linking the violation to the loss of employment.
Alpine Mining supplies a medication later linked to birth defects. Plaintiffs offer expert evidence that the drug caused the injuries. The court must determine whether the testimony reliably establishes that the exposure was the actual cause rather than other factors present during pregnancy.
Alliance Holdings publishes a credit report containing false statements about Apex Dynamics. The report leads lenders to deny financing, causing Apex to lose a major contract. Apex must show that the false statements were the actual cause of the lost opportunity rather than independent market conditions.
A plaintiff must show by a preponderance of the evidence that the harm would not have occurred but for the defendant's conduct. When multiple potential causes exist, the plaintiff need only demonstrate reasonable certainty that the defendant's action produced the injury.
When two or more defendants act negligently toward a plaintiff and only one caused the indivisible harm, but the plaintiff cannot identify which one, the burden shifts to each defendant to prove its conduct was not the actual cause.
No. If the harm would have happened even without the defendant's negligence, the conduct is not the actual cause because it made no difference in the outcome.
…will be advanced. The purpose of terminal sedation is to ease the suffering of the patient and comply with her wishes, and the actual cause of death is the administration of heavy doses of lethal sedatives. This same intent and causation may exist when a doctor complies with a patient's request for lethal medication to hasten…