If there was a fire in your house and a firefighter was injured in the course of putting out said fire, would you expect that firefighter to sue you for damages? You probably would not, because of the firefighter’s rule which says the person responsible for the fire doesn’t owe the firefighter any care because it is within the firefighter’s duties of their employment to put out fires. That is the rule that a California court used when they denied a UPS driver after he sued a university. He was delivering boxes to the university and was injured moving the boxes.

William Moore worked for UPS for two decades, and went to William Jessup University to pick up boxes that were being shipped out. Each box was labeled as weighing 45 pounds. After lifting a few boxes he picked up the fifth box and felt immediate pain in his back. He claims it was falsely labeled and must have weighed at least 70 pounds. He received medical benefits from his employer for his claim but went on to sue William Jessup University, saying that the boxes were labeled incorrectly and that caused his injury. The school said they were not responsible because moving boxes was part of his employment and any injuries resulting from that duty were within the risks of his employment. He said they should have labeled the boxes more accurately.

The school provided evidence that UPS trained their drivers to test the weight of each package before moving it and if the package weighs more than 70 pounds, they should roll it onto a hand truck and then move it from the hand truck to the delivery truck, using another UPS employee if they needed. Moore lifted this box by himself. Though UPS asks customers to label heavier boxes with special markings, it is not required and some customers do not do so which is why they encourage drivers to test the weight first. Moore said he looked at package labels rather than testing the weight before moving them.

Judge Michael A. Jacques said that Moore’s injury occurred under the primary assumption-of-risk doctrine and the firefighter’s rule provided further proof that it was Moore’s responsibility to address the risk and not the school’s responsibility. This rule can be applied in many kinds of cases, tow truck drivers cannot sue cars stopped on the side of the road, police cannot sue criminals if they are injured during the pursuit, etc. There is also a veterinarian’s rule, which has since been applied to kennel workers as well, that says the workers cannot sue the owner of a dog if it bites them in the course of treatment or grooming. The judge told Moore that he had the experience and the resources available to him to protect himself, and he should have relied on the training he was given rather than the customer’s word.