Shock lawsuit stays dismissed

On Independence Day 2000, William Hebert did his Framingham neighbor a favor and got the shock of his life.

He was about to water the flowers outside Carl Enos's house when he touched the spigot and was electrically shocked. A toilet on the second floor had overflowed, causing the home's electrical system to malfunction.

Hebert sued his neighbor for damages stemming from the shock, which threw him in the air, melted his sneakers and glasses, set his pants on fire, and knocked out his dental plate.

But this week, a three-judge panel of the state Appeals Court said that his lawsuit was properly thrown out by a lower-court judge, calling the circumstances of the freakish accident "so remote in everyday life" that Enos could not be found negligent.

"The defendant could not have reasonably foreseen the harm that befell Hebert," the appellate court said.

JONATHAN SALTZMAN