Also known as: unreasonable risks
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A probability of harm that a reasonable person would not accept under the circumstances. The assessment weighs the likelihood and severity of injury against the burden of precautions and the social utility of the conduct or condition.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Lydia owns a beachfront building and leases the ground floor to Oceanview Hospitality for a public bar. Before the lease she notices a spongy deck board but neither repairs nor discloses it. Carlos, a paying guest, steps on the board during the soft opening and falls, suffering serious injuries. The pre-existing condition creates an unreasonable risk to public invitees that Lydia knew or should have known about.
Teresa directs staff to stack hot soup trays on a narrow ledge near the entrance during the lunch rush. A tray slips and spills on delivery worker Sara, causing burns. Teresa did not intend the contact but the placement created an unreasonable risk of offensive touching in a high-traffic area.
L leases an office to T, a dentist, and promises in the lease to maintain the central hot-water system. Through L's janitor's carelessness the hot water runs into the cold-water pipe. Patient C is scalded while washing hands. The disrepair creates an unreasonable risk that L's promised repairs would have prevented.
Teresa knows the walk-in cooler door occasionally sticks and traps people. She instructs staff to bang on the wall rather than repair it. Delivery worker Sara enters during the lunch rush, becomes trapped, and is later exposed to a spreading grease fire. The known malfunction creates an unreasonable risk of physical harm to anyone using the cooler.
Star Capital leases office space to Grove Equity and knows the balcony railing has detached from its anchors. The lease describes the balcony as decorative and provides no warning. A visitor leans on the railing during a reception and falls. The condition involves an unreasonable risk of harm to persons outside the leased premises.
Upland Industries' supervisor locks the storage-room door during inventory to prevent pilferage, unaware that Uma Upadhyay is still inside retrieving supplies. The door remains shut for twenty minutes until another employee notices. The supervisor did not intend confinement but the practice created an unreasonable risk of transitory imprisonment.
Unreasonable risk is the degree of danger that exceeds what a reasonable person would accept after weighing likelihood, severity, burden of precautions, and social utility. Everyday activities such as careful driving create some risk but not an unreasonable one. Conduct creating unreasonable risk falls below the legal standard and supports liability when it causes harm.
Supporting sources
…death or serious bodily harm); R. Perkins & R. Boyce, Criminal Law 1110 (3d ed. 1982) (burglary is dangerous felony that creates unreasonable risk of great personal harm). Because burglary is a serious and dangerous felony, the public interest in the prevention and detection of the crime is of compelling importance. Where a police…
…section 321, which provides that "If the actor does an act, and subsequently realizes or should realize that it has created an unreasonable risk
…As we stated in Robinson v Reed-Prentice Div. of Package Mach. Co. (49 N.Y.2d 471, 479): "Where a product presents an unreasonable risk
…The Act classifies medical devices in three categories based on the risk that they pose to the public. Devices that present no
Yes when the lease is for a purpose involving public admission. The landlord must know or have reason to know of the condition, realize the risk, and have reason to expect the tenant will admit the public before remedying it. Failure to use reasonable care to discover or remedy the condition exposes the landlord to liability for resulting physical harm.
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Yes if the actor lacks intent to cause harmful or offensive contact. The act may be negligent or reckless and therefore support a negligence claim, but it does not constitute battery without the required intent. The same principle applies to transitory confinement that creates an unreasonable risk without intent.
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When the landlord contracts to keep the property in repair, the disrepair creates an unreasonable risk that performance of the promise would have prevented, and the landlord fails to exercise reasonable care. Liability then extends to the tenant and consented entrants for resulting physical harm.
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