Chapter 15-2 Superseding Cause (I.E., New, and Independent Cause)

• Jurisdiction: United States

15-2 Superseding Cause (I.E., New, and Independent Cause)

Superseding cause, or new and independent cause, is an inferential rebuttal defense that negates the causation element of the plaintiff's negligence claim by cutting the causal chain by virtue of an unforeseeable act or omission.⁸ The issue has also been considered in the context of tortious interference and civil conspiracy claims.⁹ A new and independent cause intervenes "between the original wrong and the final injury such that the injury is attributed to the new cause rather than the first and more remote cause."¹⁰ A concurring cause, in contrast, '"concurs with the continuing and co-operating original negligence in working the injury', leaving the causal connection between the defendant's negligence and the plaintiff's harm intact."¹¹ Both superseding cause and concurring cause involve some intervening cause. The distinction lies in the effect the intervening cause has on the causal connection between the defendant's negligence and the plaintiff's harm.¹² If the intervening cause is a reasonably foreseeable result of the defendant's negligence, the intervening cause is a concurring...