Also known as: occurrences · occur · occurred · occurring
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An event or happening. In insurance policies an occurrence is an accident or continuing condition that produces unexpected bodily injury or property damage from the insured's standpoint.
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Olivia Owens sues Orbit Communications for unpaid invoices on a joint marketing campaign. Orbit holds a claim that Orbit's data was misused during the identical campaign. Because the misuse claim arises from the same occurrence as Olivia's invoices, Orbit must assert it as a compulsory counterclaim or lose it.
Odilia Okamura is injured when a conveyor belt at her workplace suddenly reverses. After the accident the employer installs an emergency stop switch. Evidence of the switch installation is inadmissible to prove the employer's prior negligence because the upgrade followed the occurrence.
Oakley Osei conveys land to Omar Olson "so long as the land remains used for farming." The conveyance creates a fee simple determinable that ends automatically upon the occurrence of non-farm use even though no one can predict exactly when that use will stop.
Olive Okafor agrees to sell Orlando Okafor a rare prototype machine that both parties know must exist for performance. Before delivery the prototype is destroyed in a fire. The non-occurrence of the machine's continued existence discharges Orlando's duty because its existence was a basic assumption of the contract.
Osprey Aviation leases warehouse space from Odyssey Logistics under a month-to-month tenancy that states the lease ends if the building is sold. When Odyssey sells the building the occurrence of the sale terminates the landlord-tenant relationship without further notice.
A passenger plane operated by Orion Technologies crashes on takeoff under calm weather with no mechanical warning. Because the crash is an event that ordinarily does not occur in the absence of negligence, the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur permits an inference that Orion was negligent.
An occurrence includes not only sudden accidents but also continuous or repeated exposure to harmful conditions that produce unexpected injury. Policies therefore cover gradual damage such as pollution seepage when it meets the unexpected-harm test.
Supporting sources
A claim must be pleaded as a compulsory counterclaim if it arises from the transaction or occurrence that is the subject matter of the opposing party's claim and does not require adding a party beyond the court's jurisdiction.
…came into being, that is, infused with a "soul" or "animated." A loose consensus evolved in early English law that these events occurred at some point between conception and live birth.[^maj-22] This was "mediate animation." Although Christian theology and the canon law came to fix the point of animation at 40 days for a…
…is uncontroverted that some of the statements contained in the paragraphs were not accurate descriptions of events which occurred in Montgomery. Although Negro students staged a demonstration on the State Capitol steps, they sang the National Anthem and not "My Country, 'Tis of Thee." Although nine students were…
…of the Erie Railroad Company while walking along its right of way at Hughestown in that State. He claimed that the accident occurred through negligence in the operation, or maintenance, of the train; that he was rightfully on the premises as licensee because on a commonly used beaten footpath which ran for a short…
…Some Epidemiologic Considerations, 26 Clinical Obstetrics & Gynecology 418, 424-25 (June 1983). Limb defects are even rarer, occurring
…has not provided that any federal court can entertain a suit against a federal officer for violations of Fourth Amendment rights
Evidence of subsequent remedial measures taken after an occurrence is inadmissible to prove negligence or culpable conduct. The rule protects the policy of encouraging safety improvements without creating an inference of prior fault.
An estate is terminable upon an occurrence when it ends automatically upon an event certain to happen though the timing is uncertain, such as the land ceasing to be used for a stated purpose.
If the contract requires the existence of a specific thing and that thing fails to come into existence or is destroyed, the non-occurrence is treated as a basic assumption of the contract and performance is excused.
Yes. A lease may be drafted to terminate upon the occurrence of a stated event such as the sale of the premises, ending the tenancy without additional notice or action by either party.
Res ipsa loquitur permits an inference of negligence when the occurrence is of a kind that ordinarily does not happen without negligence and the defendant had exclusive control over the instrumentality that caused the harm.