(Ch 7 - Reading) Tort Laws - BLAW

Slander:

Defamation made orally To recover damages in a case of slander, the plaintiff must prove special damages; that is, the plaintiff must show specific monetary loss that resulted from the defamatory statements. Although libel is contained in a permanent form, slander, by virtue of being spoken, is not. It is the lack of permanence that gives way to the special damages involved with slander. If the people who heard the slander do not act in a way to cause harm to the slandered person, there is no cause for compensation, which is one of the main goals of tort law.

Punitive damages or exemplary damage:

which are imposed to punish the offender and deter others from committing similar offenses.

Modified Comparative Negligence:

Courts calculate damages according to modified comparative negligence in the same manner, except that the defendant must be more than 50 percent at fault before the plaintiff can recover.

Traditional Common Law:

-liability of businesses grew out of traditional common law -duty of owners and occupiers of real property depends on status of injured party -owner owes no duty to trespassers except to do them no intentional harm -The liability of businesses grew out of the traditional common law, under which the duty of owners and occupiers of real property depends primarily on the status of the injured party. The injured party may be an invitee, a person who enters another's premises as a result of an express or implied invitation of the owner for their mutual benefit, with a business invitee being one who is invited onto the property for the purpose of doing business; a licensee, a person who enters another's premises with the occupier's consent for his or her benefit alone; or a trespasser, one who is on the property without the owner's or occupier's permission, as described earlier in this chapter. Under this approach, the owner owes the greatest duty to the invitee, a duty to inspect the premises to ensure that they are reasonably safe and to warn of any hidden dangers. The owner has a duty to a licensee to warn of any hidden dangers of which he knows but has no affirmative duty to inspect for hidden problems. The owner owes no duty to trespassers except to do them no intentional harm.

Conditional privilege:

A party will not be held liable for defamation unless the false statement was made with actual malice. A statement is made with actual malice if it is made with either knowledge of its falsity or reckless disregard for its truth.

Intentional interference with contract:

A second tort against economic interests is the tort of intentional interference with contract. To bring a claim of intentional interference with contract successfully, the plaintiff must prove that (1) a valid and enforceable contract between the two parties existed; (2) the defendant party knew of the existence of the contract and its terms; (3) the defendant intentionally undertook steps to cause one of the parties to breach the contract; and (4) the plaintiff was injured as a result of the breach.

Public Figure Privilege:

A special right Public figures are individuals who are in the public eye, typically politicians and entertainers. Because these individuals have a significant impact on our lives, we want to encourage free discussion about them, so we do not hold people liable for making false statements about them as long as the statements were not made with malice.

Pure Comparative Negligence:

According to a pure comparative negligence defense, the court determines the percentage of fault of the defendant. The defendant is then liable for that percentage of the plaintiff's damages.

Tort law, primary objective:

Although the primary objectives of criminal law are to punish wrongdoers and preserve order in society, the primary objective of tort law is to provide compensation for injured parties. Tort law also contributes to maintaining order in society because it discourages private retaliation by injured persons and their friends. After all, we do not want to live in a community where vigilantes with tempers are roaming about, righting some harm they believe has occurred to them. A third objective of tort law is to give citizens a sense that they live in a just society. Our collective sense of right and wrong suggests that someone who creates harm should make things right by compensating those who were harmed. The recognition that one will have to pay for the personal injuries she or he causes may also serve to deter the commission of torts.

Assumption of the Risk

Another defense available to defendants facing negligence claims is called assumption of the risk. To use this defense successfully, a defendant must prove that the plaintiff voluntarily and unreasonably encountered the risk of the actual harm the defendant caused. In other words, the plaintiff willingly assumed as a risk the harm she suffered.

Compensatory Damages (Tortfeasor):

Because the primary objective of tort law is to compensate victims, the primary type of damages are compensatory damages, damages designed to compensate the victim for all the harm caused by the person who committed the tort, often referred to as the tortfeasor. Tortfeasor: person who commits intentional or through negligence tort that causes a harm or loss for which a civil remedy may be sought

Negligence:

Behavior that creates an unreasonable risk of harm to others. is behavior that creates an unreasonable risk of harm to others. Unlike intentional torts, which result from a person willfully taking actions that are likely to cause injury, negligent torts involve the failure to exercise reasonable care to protect another's person or property

Libel

If the defamation is published in a permanent form, such as printed in a magazine or newspaper Defamation through television and radio broadcasts is also considered libel because the broadcasts are permanently recorded. In the case of libel, general damages are presumed. Thus, the victim would be entitled to compensation for the damages that are presumed to flow from defamation yet are hard to prove, such as the humiliation the victim would feel.

Slander of title:

If the statements relate to the ownership of the business property, the term slander of title is used

Malpractice cases

Professionals have more training than ordinary people. Thus, when professionals are serving in their professional capacity, courts generally hold that they have a higher duty of care to clients than does the ordinary person. A professional cannot defend against a negligence suit by claiming ignorance of generally accepted principles in her or his field of expertise. Clients who feel that they have suffered damages as a result of a professional's breach of her duty of care can bring a negligence case against her. These actions are frequently referred to as malpractice cases

Food disparagement:

Some interesting variations of the tort of disparagement have developed. For example, in 2007, California became the thirteenth state to recognize the tort of food disparagement, which critics call veggie libel. Such laws provide ranchers and farmers with a cause of action when someone knowingly makes false, damaging statements about a food product. The California law was drafted in response to an incident during 2006 in which Taco Bell executives wrongly identified green onions grown at Boskovich Farms in Oxnard as the source of an E. coli outbreak that sickened 70 of the fast-food chain's customers

Disparagement:

The first tort, disparagement, is similar to defamation, but it is a business's or product's reputation that has been tarnished.

Battery: (Parking-Space incident)

To return to the example of the parking-space incident, if the man actually hit you, his action would constitute a battery. In contrast, if you both happened to be getting out of your respective cars at the same time and consequently bumped into each other, no battery would have occurred because there was no intentional bodily contact.

Four Questions:

When courts attempt to determine whether a reasonable person would have owed a duty to others, they consider four questions: How likely was it that the harm would occur? How serious was the potential harm? How socially beneficial was the defendant's conduct that posed the risk of harm? What costs would have been necessary to reduce the risk of harm?

Slander of quality & Trade Libel:

When such statements are criticisms of the quality, honesty, or reputation of the business or product, the tort is sometimes called slander of quality (if spoken) or trade libel (if in printed form).

Negligent Torts:

acts in a way subjects other people to unreasonable risk of harm i.e. careless

Trespass to Personal Property:

also called trespass to personalty, by temporarily exerting control over another's personal property or interfering with the true owner's right to use the property.

Actual Malice

know it's false

Gross Negligence:

courts usually award punitive damages in cases in which the offender has committed gross negligence, an action committed with extreme reckless disregard for the property or life of another person.

Compensatory Damages

damages intended to reimburse a plaintiff for her or his losses.

Battery:

an intentional, unwanted, offensive bodily contact. Almost any unwanted, intentional contact constitutes a battery. Even contacts that are harmless, if unwanted, are batteries. And even if a touch is intended as a joke, if the reasonable person would be offended, the contact is deemed offensive.

Nominal damages:

are a small amount of money given to recognize that a defendant did indeed commit a tort in a case in which no compensable damages were suffered by the plaintiff. A plaintiff may receive nominal damages by simply failing to prove actual damages.

Good Samaritan Statutes

attempt to encourage selfless and courageous behavior by removing the threat of liability For example, laws in some states hold that people in peril who receive voluntary aid from others cannot hold those offering aid liable for negligence.

Privilege

is an affirmative defense in a defamation action. An affirmative defense occurs when the defendant admits to the accusation but argues that there is a reason he should not be held liable. A privilege is either absolute or conditional.

Intentional Torts:

occur when the defendant takes an action intending that certain consequences will result or knowing certain consequences are likely to result

Strict liability Torts

occur when the defendant takes an action that is inherently dangerous and cannot ever be undertaken safely, no matter what precautions the defendant takes.

Private Nuisance:

occurs when a person uses her property in an unreasonable manner that harms a neighbor's use or enjoyment of his property. Using one's property in a manner that caused the neighbor to be subjected to flooding, vibrations, excessive noise, or smoke could lead to a nuisance claim

Assault:

occurs when one person places another in fear or apprehension of an immediate, offensive bodily contact. Therefore, in the above example, if you think the man is just joking and you start laughing, no assault has taken place because there is no fear or apprehension. Not only must you feel fear or apprehension, but that feeling must be reasonable under the circumstances.

Absolute privilege

one cannot be sued for defamation for any false statements made, regardless of intent or knowledge of the falsity of the claim. Absolute privilege arises in only a limited number of circumstances. The speech and debate clause of the U.S. Constitution gives an absolute privilege to individuals speaking on the House and Senate floors during congressional debate. This privilege exists because Congress wants to get to the truth of matters before it, and if people testifying before Congress had to fear they might be sued, they might be afraid to testify. Absolute privilege also arises during a judicial proceeding.

Proximate cause:

sometimes referred to as legal cause, refers to the extent to which, as a matter of policy, a defendant may be held liable for the consequences of his actions. In most states, proximate cause is determined by foreseeability.

Defamation:

which is the intentional publication (communication to a third party) of a false statement harmful to an individual's reputation. In addition to the person who publishes a false statement, anyone who republishes, or in any manner repeats, a defamatory statement is also liable for defamation, even if he or she cites the original source of the defamation.