Q&A: Tort Liability for Infecting Someone with an Illness
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Tort Liability for Infecting Someone with an Illness
Question
Rabbi, greetings for the festival,
If we assume there is certain knowledge that So-and-so infected So-and-so with the flu (unintentionally, of course), does the first person bear tort liability? Or perhaps he can roll the responsibility backward along the chain of infection to the person who infected him?
Answer
There is no liability unless there was special negligence. That is the way of the world.