Under contributory negligence, if the plaintiff is responsible to any degree for the injury, what happens to their claim?

• A. Plaintiff forfeits their claim and the defendant is free from liability
• B. Jury reduces damages in favor of the defendant's fault
• C. Damages are split evenly regardless of fault
• D. The plaintiff's fault is ignored

Answer: (A)

Contributory negligence means the plaintiff’s own fault can bar recovery entirely. If the plaintiff is responsible for the injury to any degree, they cannot recover, so the defendant is not liable. That’s why the correct outcome is that the plaintiff forfeits their claim and the defendant is free from liability.

This is distinct from systems that reduce damages by the plaintiff’s fault (comparative negligence), or those that split damages regardless of fault, or that ignore the plaintiff’s fault altogether. Under contributory negligence, any amount of fault on the plaintiff’s part defeats the claim.