Also known as: causal links · causation · causal connection
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A connection between an actor's conduct and a resulting harm or event that satisfies the applicable test for factual or legal causation.
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Craig Caldwell and Cody Callahan each fired shots toward a crowd during a confrontation. One bullet struck Christian Coleman, but no evidence identified which defendant caused the wound. Because both acted negligently and the plaintiff could not prove which shot was responsible, the court shifted the burden to each defendant to show his conduct was not the cause in fact of the injury.
Clifford Cox stabbed Cecilia Cabrera during an argument. She lingered in a coma for fourteen months before dying. Even though the wound clearly satisfied but-for causation, the prosecution could not charge homicide because death occurred after the one-year-and-one-day period had expired.
Canyon Construction's excavation caused a landslide that damaged Corinne Cho's adjacent property. The court determined that the evidence permitted reasonable jurors to differ on whether the excavation was a substantial factor in causing the harm and therefore submitted the causation question to the jury.
Cypress Technologies' CEO arranged the disappearance of a key witness who had agreed to testify against the company. The government proved both that the CEO's conduct caused the witness's unavailability and that the CEO acted with specific intent to prevent testimony, satisfying the causal-link element of the forfeiture-by-wrongdoing doctrine.
Cascade Manufacturing sold a medical device without adequate warnings to physicians. Craig Caldwell's physician prescribed the device after reviewing the warnings, and Caldwell suffered injury. The court required proof that a proper warning would have changed the physician's prescribing decision rather than relying on generalized evidence of risk awareness.
Copperfield Mining laid off Clifford Cox, age 58, while retaining younger workers with similar performance records. Cox presented evidence that his age was a motivating factor in the decision. The court examined whether the employer's stated reasons were pretextual to determine if a causal link existed between age and the adverse action.
The burden shifts when two or more defendants are negligent toward the plaintiff, the plaintiff suffers a single indivisible harm, and it is impossible for the plaintiff to identify which defendant's conduct caused the injury.
No. Forfeiture requires proof that the defendant engaged in conduct designed to prevent the witness from testifying. Simple causation of unavailability is insufficient without that intent.
The plaintiff must prove that an adequate warning to the prescribing physician would have altered the physician's decision to prescribe the device or drug.
…conduct of the recipients toward the plaintiff and because the recipients, the only witnesses able to establish the necessary causal connection, may be reluctant to testify that the publication affected their relationships with the plaintiff. Thus some presumptions are necessary if the plaintiff is to be adequately compensated."…