A client tаking high‑dоse glucоcоrticoids for аn аutoimmune disorder asks why the medication must not be stopped suddenly. The nurse’s best response is:
Yоu аre а risk mаnagement prоfessiоnal for Tar, Inc. Recently, your firm was sued by an individual – Vivian Rose – on a negligence claim. In that case, Tar, Inc., as a part of its business, maintained a large tank for storing tar. Tar, Inc. negligently allowed the tar to spill over, so that the tar flowed from its premises onto an area where the plaintiff, a 9-year-old girl, and other children often played. This caused injuries to the legs of several children, some of which could be argued as foreseeable and some perhaps not. Note that the city where Tar, Inc. is located also has an ordinance in place around proximity of these materials to property lines and the National Tar Association has created guidelines around the safety of large storage tanks for tar (mitigating the risk for spilling like the incident noted above) which is common for most companies in the industry to follow. Irrespective of the claims, defenses, and potential outcomes from this case, describe the identification, assessment, analysis, and potential actions you would take to mitigate the legal, compliance and overall risk for Tar, Inc. associated with their tar storage processes.
Lоrne is а mоvie аctоr who hаs fallen on hard times. While he is an adult, Lorne has a genetic condition that resulted in his height of only a little over 2 feet tall. As a result of his short stature, the number of parts that Lorne qualifies for are very limited. Lorne just was not getting enough movie roles to make enough money to pay his bills. So Lorne decided to change careers. He began to advertise himself as a stunt coordinator. A stunt coordinator handles all of the technical and safety details involved in the performance of movie stunts. The stunt coordinator must ensure that the stunts are realistic and spectacular at the same time as being safe for the stunt men and women who perform the actual stunts. Anyone can be a stunt coordinator. There is no training or certification that is required by the government. This is surprising as most stunts are very dangerous to perform. Lorne said to himself, “I know that I have never performed a stunt in my life, but I have seen plenty of stunts performed. Most of those stunt people are real dummies, so how hard can it be?” Max Marvel, Inc. (“MMI”) is a movie production company. MMI decided to produce a very low budget movie called Dude. Dude was an action/thriller with a script that called for a large number of dangerous stunts to be performed. Floyd is one of the movie producers who works for MMI and is the producer in charge of the production of Dude. Based on Lorne’s resume, Floyd decided to hire Lorne to coordinate the stunts. Floyd stated, “If I hire Lorne for such a small amount of money, I can use the money I save to hire Stunt-Man Sam, one of the most famous stunt men in the business. After ten years in the business, Stunt-Man Sam has the experience to perform spectacular stunts.” Stunt-Man Sam was indeed one of the best in the stunt business. While Stunt-Man Sam was physically very strong, Stunt-Man Sam did have one weakness. He had asthma. Among other things, when exposed to smoke for more than 5 minutes, Stunt-Man Sam’s asthma closed down Stunt-Man Sam’s lungs so he could not breathe. Stunt-Man Sam’s doctors told him that he must always have his medication for his asthma with him at all times. The doctors warned that Stunt-Man Sam must take his medication quickly, within minutes of exposure to smoke for more than 5 minutes or he might die of an asthma attack. One of the first stunts Stunt-Man Sam was to perform for the movie Dude involved jumping off the top of a three story, burning building while his clothes were on fire. Everyone on the set referred to this scene as the Burning Body scene. This stunt is performed by wearing a special body suit. The inner layer of the body suit is fireproof, and the outer layer is covered with a material that catches on fire with the push of a button on the sleeve of the suit. One simple push of the same button and the fire will go out. The suit is called the Body Burner. Based on the fact that so many movies were filmed in California, California had a criminal statute that required all movie stunt coordinators who coordinated stunts using fire to follow California fire regulations. The statute contained one specific part which stated the following: “One fully filled fire extinguisher per stunt person must be available on the set before any stunt involving fire is performed. The fire extinguishers must be checked for defects and refilled before each stunt involving fire is performed.” Lorne was not aware of this statute as he had no experience as a stunt coordinator. Fire extinguishers slowly lose pressure over the course of a year. Without an adequate pressure level, the fire extinguisher will not operate. It only costs $50.00 to recharge a fire extinguisher. MMI had no policy in place to require that all fire extinguishers be inspected and recharged on a yearly basis and MMI never conducted an inspection of the fire extinguishers. During the morning before the actual performance and filming of the Burning Body stunt, Stunt-Man Sam and Lorne arranged to meet at the movie studio so that Stunt-Man Sam could try on the Body Burner to be sure that it would fit. Stunt-Man Sam did not realize that he left his asthma medication at home until he was almost at the studio. Stunt-Man Sam said to himself, “darn, by the time I turn around and get my medication, I will be late for my meeting.” Stunt-Man Sam decided not to return for his medicine. After both Lorne and Stunt-Man Sam ensured that the on/off button worked correctly, Stunt-Man Sam put on the Body Burner. Then, after ensuring that the Body Burner fit correctly, Lorne pushed the button to turn the Body Burner on. The suit worked well by quickly engulfing Stunt-Man Sam’s body in flames. Then, Stunt-Man Sam tried to turn the Body Burner off. Both Stunt-Man Sam and Lorne quickly realized that the suit would not turn off. Stunt-Man Sam cried, “oh my gosh, Lorne, help me, I’m trapped in this burning suit!” Neither of them could pull the Body Burner off of Stunt-Man Sam as it was covered in flames. Lorne grabbed one of the fire extinguishers and tried to put out the fire. However, none of the fire extinguishers worked as they had all lost pressure. If the fire extinguishers had been working, the fire would have been quickly extinguished within a minute and Stunt-Man Sam’s asthma would not have been triggered. Finally, after 5 minutes had passed, Stunt-Man Sam grabbed a number of very elaborate and expensive costumes belonging to Lorne. Stunt-Man Sam wrapped his body in the customs and extinguished the fire. Lorne's expensive costumes were destroyed. The good news for Stunt-Man Sam was that he did not suffer any burns or other injuries. The bad news for Stunt-Man Sam was that he had already breathed in a lot of smoke triggering an asthma attack. Without his medication, Stunt-Man Sam quickly stopped breathing and died. An autopsy revealed that Stunt-Man Sam had cancer and only had one year to live. You are the newly hired Compliance Officer for MMI. The President and CEO of MMI, Max Marvel, asks you to analyze the merits of a cause of action for negligence that Stunt-Man Sam’s estate may bring against Lorne and the defense of contributory negligence that Lorne may raise. Assume that California follows the rules of pure comparative negligence and also follows the Restatement of Torts. Do not analyze any causes of action for intentional torts. Also, Max asks you to analyze whether there is any way for Lorne to recover any monies from MMI if Lorne is found liable for negligence and must pay monies to Stunt-Man Sam’s estate.
Stephаnie аnd Tim were in а relatiоnship and had a daughter in the 1990s – Stephanie and Tim were nоt married and lived separate lives. The daughter remained sоlely with Stephanie until 2024 when she was interested about her biological father. As a result, Stephanie and Tim re-established contact, but the relationship was rocky, marked by multiple no-contact orders as well as continued consensual social contacts, including out-of-town trips. On the late night of May 3, 2025, in the parking lot of a Los Angeles bar, Stephanie and Tim were drinking together, despite the no-contact order. At approximately 2:00 AM on May 4, 2025, Stephanie and Tim left the bar. Tim claims that Stephanie was drunk and fell down in the parking lot on several occasions causing injury to herself. Stepanie claims that Tim threatened her life with a gun in the bar and forcibly took her and dragged her around the parking lot of the bar while kicking and punching her, at one point cornering her against a car and a fence stating that she could not leave until they finished discussing a dispute about a daughter’s possession that Tim claimed Stephanie took from him at the bar. Stephanie further claims Tim broke off the rearview mirror of his truck and then struck her in the face, breaking her nose. However, Tim claims Stephanie tore the rearview mirror from the truck and hit herself with it while she was sitting in the vehicle. Tim also claims that both him and Stephanie were too drunk to drive and Stephanie began to hit him when they left the bar and that Stephanie’s injuries were caused by someone else. Tim additionally noted that any contact he made with Stephanie in the parking lot was to defend himself against Stephanie hitting him. A police officer arrived and found Stephanie and Tim both intoxicated. Tim was sitting on the passenger seat of his vehicle and Stephanie was leaning into the driver-side of the vehicle. They were arguing with Tim mostly quiet and Stephanie very upset. The police officer did not observe Tim to be injured, but Stephanie with a large abrasion to her nose and cuts on her mouth and arms. The officer also found the rearview mirror and blood about 10 feet from the vehicle in the parking lot. Tim was arrested at the scene for assault, domestic violence and violation of a no-contact order. Stephanie received medical attention for her injuries, including surgery for an aggravated back condition and a care for her broken nose. The surgery for the aggravated back condition occurred a month after the incident at the bar. Subsequently, Stepanie filed an action. Analyze the potential claims and any applicable defenses. Assume that there are no California statutes that are pertinent to this matter, particularly around the impact of intoxication on intentional torts and contributory fault. Do not analyze any causes of action for negligence – only intentional torts should be evaluated.