DOG'S "FIRST BITE" LAW.
MAN'S OLAIM TO ONE LIE.
If a dog is: entitled to its first bite, is a man entitled to his first lie? This point was raised at the Southend County Court recently, when Cecil Banton, a chauffeur, sued his former employer, Henry Clinch, of Whitehall Hotel, Wtetcliff, for wrongful dismissal. ■ Banton left work with a poisoned finger and told his employer untruthfully that he had seen a doctor. His solicitor ; argued that a lie was not sufficient cause for dismissal. • " '
The Judge: You think, then, an employee, like a dog, is entitled to one "bite? In finding for 'the employer, the judge said Banton had told . what Lord Salisbury .had called " a downright thumping lie" to deceive Mr. Clinch,
The legal doctrine that a-dog' is "entitled to one bite" is founded on the fact .that unless the owner of the dog is aware that the animal is vicious he is not liable for an injury the dog may do, and he cannot be aware of the dog's bad . character unless the dog has already bitten someone.
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Bibliographic details
New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18711, 17 May 1924, Page 20 (Supplement)
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180DOG'S "FIRST BITE" LAW. New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18711, 17 May 1924, Page 20 (Supplement)
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