Legal Studies Chapter 10 Torts Affecting Businesses

Assault

Intentional tort of putting someone in immediate apprehension for his or her physical safety. Right then or there in that moment to be considered _____. Can't be a blanket threat to a bunch of people, has to be a specific threat with some physical back up to their threat - points a gun, brandishes a knife even if they don't say anything. Would dan average person in that situation consider it assault, would it be "objectively reasonable" to be considered a threat (old woman threatening to punch you).

Battery

Intentional tort of touching someone in a harmful or offensive manner without lawful justification or consent. Fist to the jaw, knife to the gut, bullet in the face. Harmful is physical injury. Offensive is agressive, unconsented to touching. Hitting someone "closely associated withe person" - kicking a wheel chair or hitting the bags someone is holding.

Invasion of Privacy

Intentional tort that Involves the right to publicity, invasion by intrusion, invasion of privacy by appropriation, and invasion by privacy by public disclosure of private facts.

Compensatory damages

Most damages awarded in torts compensate the plaintiff for injuries suffered. It's purpose is to make the plaintiff whole again, at least financially. Three major types are: past and future medical expenses, past and future economic loss (including property damage and loss of earnign power), and past and future pain and suffering. Also includes mental distress, loss of limb, and loss of consortium (the marriage relationship). The calculation includes state adopted life expectancy tables and present value discount tables. President bush limited tort damages for pain and suffers in a case to 250,000 dollars per person.

Design defects

Occur when a product is manufactured according to the manufacturers standards, but the product injuries a user a user due to its unsafe design.

Public revelation

Publication, any way of communication.

Tortfeasor

Someone who commits a tort. The defendant.

Slander

Spoken defamation

Ultra-hazardous activity

The courts impose a strict liability in torts for types of activities they call ______. Transporting and using explosives and poisons as does keeping dangerous wild animals.

Proximate causation

The plaintiff must establish _______, a legal cause. Al would not be able to prove that the "jaywalker" is in _____. Tortfeasors are only liable in negligence cases if it is forseeable. A tortfeasor is only liable for harms that are within the forseeable risk of their unreasonable behavior. The tortfeasor could reasonably expect you to be injured by the careless behavior.

Invasion of privacy by public disclosure of private facts

The public revelation of highly objectionable private about another. Highly objectionable/personal information - private medical history and financial history.

Defamation

The publication of false statements which harms the person's reputation. Truth is an absolute defense. If the tortfeasor proves that the claims are true than it is not defamation, but if the information is private then it is not a legal. Includes negligence. For a public official/figure, the defamation must be malice or reckless disregard for the truth. Tortfeasor knew the information was not truthful and went ahead and published anyway. Cannot be defamation if there was no negligence.

Invasion of Privacy by Appropriation

The use of another's name or likeness for one's own benefit, especially commercial gain.

Conversion

The wrongful exercise of control over the personal property of another. Civil side of larceny. Tortfeasor is treating the victims property as if it was theirs. Must be significant - taking out the car in Ferris Bueller's Day off: yes. Picking up your phone, look at it, then put it down: no.

Libel

Written/everything else defamation

Right to publicity

he right to control the use of one's own name, picture, or likeness and to prevent another from using it for commercial benefit without one's consent. Reasonable expectation of privacy. Paris Hilton's attorney: "this was a calculated way to use Miss HIlton's actual photo, name, and catch phrase to draw attention to Hallmark's product."

Defenses to Negligence

Contributory negligence (now comparative negligence), and assumption of risk. Both of these are affirmative defenses, which means that the defendant must specifically raise these defenses to take advantage of them.

Punitive damages

Courts punish defendants for committing intentional torts and for negligent behavior considered "gross" or "willful and wanton". Also called exemplary damages when the court makes an example of defendant. They are rare and used to punish the wrongdoer. Not involved in Civil law that much.

Harper v. Wisconsin County (Ala. Sup. Ct. 2004)

Dealt if a battery was harmful or offensive. Supervisor grabs the hand of a subordinate hand to lead her to an office to continue a workplace argument.

Contributory Negligence

Defense that absolutely barred the plaintiff from recovery if the plaintiff's own fault contributed to the injury "in any degree, however slight. If you're being negligent, you can't sue for negligence. If you're speeding, and someone hits you, you are not able to sue them for negligence. Banned in most, if not all states.

Assumption of the risk

Defense to negligence that arises from the plaintiff's knowing and willing undertaking of an activity made dangerous by the negligence of another.

Reputation

Fundamental character flaws someone is exposing

Causation in Fact

"But for causation". The tortfeasor's conduct is the cause in fact of the victim's injury when the injury would not have occurred but for the tortfeasor's conduct. Ex. Suppose you just took a difficult exam, and you are now headed to the MLC. Distracted by thoughts of the exam, you step into Baldwwin without checking to make sure you have right of way. A driver coming down baldwin serves to avoid you and hits a trashcan. The trashcan rolls down Sanfrod and spills a banana peel onto the sidewalk in front of the stadium. Al, a freshman, slips on the banana and is injured. He sues you for negligence.

Comparative responsibility

(also called comparative negligence and comparative fault). A doctrine to offset the harsh rule of contributory negligence. The plaintiff's contributory negligence does not bar bar recovery. Compares the plaintiff's fault with the defendants and reduces the damage award proportionally. Can divide fault, if you are in fault you can still sue for negligence. Ex. hot coffee case, customer was somewhat at fault so was mcdonalds so the new verdict will show that she was 20% guilty and Mcdonalds was 80%, so she gets 80% of the settlement.

Strict liability

A catchall phrase for the legal responsibility for injury causing behavior that is neither intentional or negligent. Various types that all impose legal liability regardless of the intent or fault of the defendant.

Intentional interference with contractual relations

A common law business tort of causing another to break a contract. Most common example involves one company raiding another company for employees.

Injurious falsehood

A common law business tort. that consists of publication of untrue statements that disparage the business owner's product or its quality. The plaintiff must establish the falsity of the defendant's statements and show actual damages arising from the untrue statements.

Duty of care

A critical element of negligence is ______, without it one does not that person reasonable care. It arises out of out of a person's conduct or activity. Doesn't occur when person has no ______ to avoid others nonconduct. There is no general _____ when requiring a sunbather to warn a would-be surfer that a great white shark is lurking offshore, which is a moral responsibility. The breach is both CIF and PC. Failing to exercise the stand of care that a reasonably prudent person would have exercised in a similar situation. Ex. Texting while driving and you kill someone.

Mens Rea

A guilty mind, in the mindset of committing a tort, wanted to do someone harm.

Invasion by Intrusion

A highly offensive interference with a person's physical solitude. Examples: Buggins a telephone, stealing nude photos, stalking. A reasonable exception of privacy is the typical barometer

Strict Products liability

A major type of strict tort liability for the commercial sale of defective products. Applies only to commercial sellers, those who normally sell products like the one causing injury, or who place them in stream of commerce. Production defects and design defects. Useful in protecting those who suffer personal or property damage, and does not protect businesses that have economic losses due to defective products. Contributory negligence is not a defense but assumption of risk is.

Willful and Wanton Negligence

A special type of aggravated negligence that does not reveal intent, but shows an extreme lack of due care. Negligent injuries inflicted by drunk drivers show ______ . Because employers are also liable for intention torts of employees in advancing the interests of their employers, employers face punitive damage awards in those instances even when they are also liable for simple negligence, or have not acted negligently at all.

Intentional Misrepresentation

Al, a college professor, knowing very little about cars, lists his 2005 Toyota 4runner in the classifieds. Al tells Bob, a prospective buyer, that the truck is in great shape. Bob buys the truck, and the next day the truck dies.

Fraud

An intentional misrepresentation of a material fact on which the victim justifiably relies to his or detriment

Tort

Any civil wrong other than a breach of contract. Three categories: intentional torts, negligence torts, and strict liability torts.

Production defects

Arise when products are not manufactured to a manufacturers standards. Ex. defective brakes on a new car.

Intentional Torts

Can be a criminal offense. Distinguished from the other types of torts to the extent that tortfeasor intentionally takes some action that results in harm to the victim. Worst kind of tort. Types include assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy (takes three forms), defamation (slander and libel), conversion, and fraud.

Negligence

Carelessly harming someone else. Happens when one who has a duty to act reasonably acts carelessly and causes injury to another. Physical harm to the body or proprietary / financial harm. Five essential elements: Tortfeasor owes a duty of care to the victim, Tortfeasor breaches that duty of care, causation in fact, proximate causation, and harm to the victim.