While this sounds like a reasonable use of the term, it is not, and no lawyer would say such a thing. Contributory negligence is actually an affirmative defense, meaning that it can be raised to help a defendant when someone else sues them; it is not a reason to start a suit against somebody. It is a common law doctrine (not written down as a statute) that says if the plaintiff's negligence contributed to his own injury, then he cannot recover from a defendant, even where the defendant's negligence was the principal cause of the injury.