Also known as: limited duties · limited-duty
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
A rule in negligence law that restricts the scope of the duty of care in specified categories of cases. Courts impose no duty or only a limited duty not to cause pure economic harm, pure emotional harm, or certain premises-related injuries, even when the defendant's conduct creates a foreseeable risk.
A rule in negligence law that restricts the scope of the duty of care in specified categories of cases. Courts impose no duty or only a limited duty not to cause pure economic harm, pure emotional harm, or certain premises-related injuries, even when the defendant's conduct creates a foreseeable risk.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
The narrow range of responsibilities assigned to an officer that renders the position inferior under the Appointments Clause. Congress may therefore vest appointment of such an officer in the judiciary rather than requiring presidential nomination and Senate confirmation.
A judicial council appoints Opal as special prosecutor with authority limited to investigating one SEC official's dealings with a single firm and removable only for cause. Because Opal's role is confined to that narrow subject and lacks broad policymaking power, the appointment satisfies the constitutional standard for an inferior officer and need not proceed through presidential nomination and Senate confirmation.
The narrow range of responsibilities assigned to an officer that renders the position inferior under the Appointments Clause. Congress may therefore vest appointment of such an officer in the judiciary rather than requiring presidential nomination and Senate confirmation.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
A state statute criminalizes statements that expose a racial or religious group to contempt. A publisher convicted under the statute argues that the law imposes an unconstitutional burden on speech. The Court upholds the statute, treating the state's interest in protecting group reputation as sufficient to justify the limited duty imposed on speakers.
Investors who relied on an audit report sue the accounting firm for negligence after the client company collapses. The firm had no direct relationship with the investors. The court holds that the firm owes only a limited duty to nonclients and therefore escapes liability for the investors' purely economic losses.
A lifeguard sues the city after enduring repeated sexual harassment by supervisors. The city had no formal anti-harassment policy and took no corrective action. The Court holds that the employer is subject to vicarious liability but recognizes a limited affirmative defense when the employer exercised reasonable care and the employee unreasonably failed to use available remedies.
Courts apply the limited-duty rule to pure economic loss, pure emotional harm, and certain premises-liability situations. In these areas the defendant may escape liability even though its conduct created a foreseeable risk of harm to the plaintiff.
Supporting sources
A non-manufacturing seller has no duty to open sealed packages or test third-party goods for latent defects when it neither knows nor has reason to know the products are dangerous. Liability arises only if the seller had actual or constructive notice of danger.
Supporting sources
Yes. An auditor generally owes only a limited duty to third parties who are not in privity. Courts therefore deny recovery for purely economic losses unless the auditor knew the report would be used by the specific plaintiff.
Supporting sources
When an officer's responsibilities are confined to investigating a narrow range of persons and subjects, the position qualifies as inferior. Congress may therefore authorize appointment by the judiciary instead of presidential nomination and Senate confirmation.
…power, such as protection of interstate commerce. When the Federal Government puts liberty of press in one scale, it has a very limited duty to personal reputation or local tranquillity to weigh against it in the other. But state action affecting speech or press can and should be weighed against and reconciled with these…