Chapter 12 TORTS I The Basis of Tort Law a Tort a civil wrong that unfairly causes someone else to suffer loss or harm and resulting in legal liability for the person committing the tort b Tort law is designed to compensate those who have suffered a loss injury due to someone else s wrongful act c Two kinds of damages money available in tort actions i Compensatory intended to compensate reimburse for actual losses 1 Special damages compensate plaintiff for quantifiable monetary losses 2 General damages compensate plaintiff for non monetary losses such as pain and suffering and loss of consortium extremely difficult to quantify ii Punitive intended to punish wrongdoer and deter others from similar acts d Tort Reform does the tort system encourage frivolous lawsuits i State legislation limiting amount of general damages ii State legislation limiting or banning punitive damages II Intentional Torts Againt the Person a Tortfeasor one committing the tort must intend the consequences of the act or know with substantial certainty that specific consequences will result from the act b Assault i Any intentional or unexcused threat of immediate harmful or offensive touching words or acts create a reasonably believable threat ii Can be a civil or criminal offense c Battery i An unexcused and harmful or offensive physical contact intentionally performed ii Can be a civil or criminal offense d False Imprisonment the intentional confinement or restraint of another person s activities without justification i An issue when businesspeople detain customers on suspicion ii Merchants have a privilege to detain merchants can use reasonable force to detain or delay a person suspected of shoplifting and hold them for police e Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress extreme or outrageous conduct resulting in severe emotional distress to another i Act must exceed bounds of decency accepted by society ii Hustler v Falwell First Amendment protection from claims of IIED for creators of parodies of public figures f Defamation breach of the general duty to refrain from making false public statements of fact about others i Publication communicating defamatory statement to others required for tort to be actionable ii Slander spoken oral defamation plaintiff must prove that slander cost him actual economic monetary harm iii Libel written defamation plaintiff does not need to prove injury general damages are presumed if defendant is found liable iv Truth is a defense to defamation McKee v Laurion v Public figures are fair game to prove defamation public figure must show actual malice g Invasion of Privacy a person must have a reasonable expectation of privacy and the invasion must be highly offensive h Fraudulent Misrepresentation false representation through misstatement of facts or through conduct with the intent to deceive another and on which another person reasonably relies to his detriment i Abusive or Frivolous Litigation protects people from the misuse of litigation III Business Torts a Wrongful Interference with a Contractual Relationship there must be i A valid enforceable contract ii A third party must know about the contract iii Third party must intentionally induce a party to the contract to breach the contract iv Example Ford Models v Men Women NY Model Management b Wrongful Interference with a Business Relationship businesses are prohibited from unreasonably interfering with another s business in their attempt to gain a greater share of the market i Example false claims accusations are made about a business in order to drive away potential customers ii Defenses showing that interference was legitimate competitive behavior example cola wars IV Intentional Torts Against Property a Trespass to Land occurs when a person without permission i Enters onto above or below the surface of the land that is owned by another ii Causes anything to enter onto land owned by another iii Remains on land owned by another or permits anything to remain on it iv Do not need to prove actual harm to land to prevail b Trespass to Personal Property When an individual wrongfully takes or harm the personal property of another or otherwise interferes with the lawful owner s possession and enjoyment of personal property c Conversion any act that deprives an owner of personal property or the use of that personal property without the owner s permission and without just cause V Negligence a When a person suffers injury because of another person s failure to live up to a required duty of care i Intent is not required ii Actor s conduct creates foreseeable risk of certain consequences b To succeed in a negligence action the plaintiff must prove i Duty ii Breach of duty iii Causation iv Damages c Duty of Care unwritten rule to not infringe on the interests of others d The Reasonable Person Standard to determine whether the duty of care to others has been breached courts look at how an objectively reasonable hypothetical person would have acted in the same circumstances i Determined on case by case basis looking at totality of the circumstances ii Judge or jury typically decides how reasonable person in position of the defendant would have acted iii Exceptions for those with certain limitations children disabled etc courts look at how a reasonable person with the same limitations as the defendant would act iv Elevated standard for those with certain skill set the reasonable doctor the reasonable police officer etc e The Duty of Landowners expected to exercise reasonable care to protect people coming onto their property from harm i Retailers and other companies have a duty to exercise reasonable care to protect business invitees ii Storeowners must warn business invitees of foreseeable NOT obvious risks f Causation the tortfeasor s negligent act must have caused the harm to do so must prove both i Causation in Fact but for test the injury would not have occurred but for the defendant s act ii Proximate Cause were injuries sustained foreseeable or too remotely connected to the injury to trigger liability 1 Limits scope of defendant s liability 2 Palsgraf v Long Island RR g Injury with damages must result from allegedly negligent act h Negligence Per Se occurs if an individual violates a statute or ordinance providing for a criminal penalty and the violation causes another to be injured i Good Samaritan Statutes someone who is aided voluntarily by another cannot then sue that person for negligence j Dram Shop Acts bar owner or