Diamond Heating, Inc. v. Clackamas County

Under the economic loss doctrine, Oregon imposes liability for negligence if one unreasonably creates a foreseeable risk of harm to others and the plaintiff can sufficiently allege facts establishing a duty of care beyond reasonable care.  See J.H. Kelly, LLC v. Quality Plus Services, Inc., 305 Or App 565, 572 (2020); Paul v. Providence Health Systems-Oregon, 351 Or 587, 591 (2021). "To recover damages for purely economic harm, liability 'must be predicated on some duty of the negligence act to the injured party beyond the common law duty to exercise reasonable care to prevent foreseeable harm.’" Id. 

Diamond Heating, Inc., (Diamond) appealed a grant of a motion to  dismiss a negligence claim against Clackamas County and argued that the trial court was incorrect for having relied on the “economic loss rule.” Under the economic loss doctrine, Oregon imposes liability for negligence if one unreasonably creates a foreseeable risk of harm to others and the plaintiff can sufficiently allege facts establishing a duty of care beyond reasonable care.  See J.H. Kelly, LLC v. Quality Plus Services, Inc., 305 Or App 565, 572 (2020); Paul v. Providence Health Systems-Oregon, 351 Or 587, 591 (2021). "To recover damages for purely economic harm, liability 'must be predicated on some duty of the negligence act to the injured party beyond the common law duty to exercise reasonable care to prevent foreseeable harm.’" Id.  The Court held that Diamond failed to prove that Clackamas had a duty to them. Rather, the probatee had a duty under the probation conditions, not Clackamas. Affirmed.