Eggshell skull

The eggshell skull doctrine in tort law means that the defendant in a civil litigation who is at fault is responsible for all the consequence of his action, even the plaintiff has a preexisting medical condition or other vulnerability, such as if the plaintiff's skull is as fragile as an eggshell. This doctrine is often used in battery litigations. A famous case that invoked the eggshell skull doctrine is Vosburg v. Putney, which a student kicked another student in the shin, causing serious injury that he did not foresee because the victim had a preexisting condition. The court decided that the student was fully liable even if he did not intend to cause serious harm.

Sources

• Law glossary definition
• Journal article excerpt