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Torts Keyed to Henderson
O’Brien v. Cunard Steamship Co.
Citation:
154 Mass. 272, 28 N.E. 266 (1891)Facts
O’Brien, was a young immigrant passenger on a ship owned by the Cunard Steamship Company while she traveled from Queenstown, Ireland to Boston. Boston regulations required immigrants to have smallpox vaccines prior to entry to the city. Any unvaccinated immigrants were subject to quarantine. Cunard vaccines to any immigrants who weren’t previously vaccinated, and provided the immigrants with certificates as evidence of their vaccinations. O’Brien joined 200 other female passengers in line to receive vaccination checks. The surgeon and employee of Cunard viewed each of the women’s arms for marks to determine whether they had previously been vaccinated. When it was her turn, O’Brien showed the surgeon her arms and told the surgeon that she received vaccinations before. But there was no mark on her arm. The surgeon said that she needed to be vaccinated again. O’Brien did not tell the surgeon that she did not want to be vaccinated nor displayed any conduct to indicate that she did not wish to obtain the vaccination. She held up her arm and received the vaccine and her certificate. O’Brien later used the certificate as evidence of her vaccination. Subsequently, she developed. blisters across her body as a side effect of the vaccine.
O’Brien sued Cunard for the surgeon’s assault, and negligence.
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