Chapter 6 Intentional Torts 09 20 2012 Tort civil wrong that is not a breach of a contract Intent desire to cause certain consequences or the substantial certainty that those consequences will result from one s behavior o Ex A pulls trigger of loaded gun while aiming at B for purpose of killing then A intended to kill B Recklessness a conscious indifference to a known and substantial risk of harm created by one s behavior o Ex A fires handgun into crowd because he likes sound of gun going off but hits B and injures him Even though he didn t desire to do this he knew this could be possible so he acted Negligence A failure to use reasonable care with harm to another recklessly party occurring as a result o Ex A fires gun but doesn t think it is loaded if gun goes off and wounds B A has negligently harmed B Strict Liability Liability without fault or more precisely liability irrespective of fault o Plaintiff must prove certain things in any strict liability case but fault is not one of them Tort law contemplates civil liability for those who commit torts which is different then criminal law o Plaintiff who wins tort case usually recovers compensatory Depending on facts of case usually medical expenses lost wages and benefits less tangible harms o Punitive damages are not intended to compensate tort victims damages for losses Punish flagrant wrongdoers worst kind of wrongdoing and are not routinely assessed CASE Mathias v Accor Economy Lodging Inc o Mathias s stayed at Motel 6 and were bitten by bedbugs o Filed suit for compensatory damages and assessing punitive damages against corporation that owns Motel 6 that personnel disregarded clear evidence of bedbug infestation Court agreed was appealed and upheld Interference with Personal Rights Battery intentional and harmful or offensive touching of another without his consent o Contact is harmful if it produces bodily injury Ex If A threatens to shoot B to scare him with a gun that A thinks is unloaded if A shoots B even though that wasn t his specific intent A is liable for Battery Transferred Intent a defendant who intends to injure one person but actually injures another is liable to the person injured despite that not being original intent CASE Howard v Wilson o Plaintiff Wilson was maliciously recklessly negligently and violently attacked by Howard in a clothing store Howard filed motion to dismiss contending Wilson failed to file complaint within 1 year statue Wilson said that she was suing under recklessness Trial court denied Howard motion to dismiss but she appealed under two reasons Wasn t filed under 1 year applicable Only characterize incident as negligent to circumvent statue of limitations Howard denial of motion to dismiss reversed Assault occurs when there is an intentional attempt or offer to cause a harmful or offensive contact with another person o Irrelevant if the threatened contact actually occurs Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress so outrageous in character and so extreme in degree as to go beyond all possible bounds of decency and to be regarded as atrocious and utterly intolerable in a civilized community CASE Durham v McDonald s Restaurant of Oklahoma o Mr Durham was consistently referred to the kid as an fucking retard by employer he also was not allowed to take his medication o Supreme Court of Oklahoma agrees that this is an intentional infliction of emotional distress False Imprisonment intentional confinement of another person for an appreciable time without his consent CASE Pope v Rostraver Shop and Save o Pope filed false imprisonment lawsuit against Howard Russell owner of Rostraver Shope and Save o Russell said he witnessed Pope going in and out of her shirt he stopped her on the way out and called the police o Police arrived and could not tell if she had shoplifted anything Court dismissed false imprisonment Defamation Unprivileged publication of false and defamatory statements concerning another o Libel Written or printed defamation o Slander Oral or any other defamatory statements o A message directly from defendant to plaintiff is NOT actionable liability pimp o Someone who repeats a defamatory statement may also be liable along with original speaker o Although Defamation is an intentional tort law is for strict CASE Evil Knievel sued ESPN o Caption in a picture of him and wife and another woman o Court decided that pimp wasn t used in a negative way Private Figure Plaintiff o Gertz rule private figure plaintiff must prove there was fault by state law of at least negligence o If can only prove negligence recover only compensatory damages Invasion of Privacy Intrusion on Solitude or Seclusion Intentional intrusion on the solitude or seclusion of others that is offensive to an individual Public Disclosure of Private Facts Publicizing facts of someone s private life if publicity is highly offensive False Light Publicity Publicity that places person in a false light in public eye if highly offensive o E g Signing a persons name to a public letter Commercial Appropriation of Name or Likeness Defendant commercially uses someone s name or likeness normally to imply her endorsement of a product o Using celebrities name in an ad soundalike CASE CBC Distribution and Marketing v MLB Misuse of Legal Proceedings proceedings Malicious prosecution remedy for wrongful institution of criminal o Defendant caused criminal proceedings without cause o Defendant did so for improper purpose o Criminal proceedings eventually were terminated Wrongful use of civil proceedings protect people from wrongfully instituted civil suits Abuse of process imposes liability on those who initiated legal proceedings Interference with Property Rights Trespass to Land unauthorized intentional intrusion upon anothers Private Nuisance interference with plaintiff s use and enjoyment of real property her land o Smoke light noise order CASE Stephens v Pillen o Plaintiffs sued because of confinement because she couldn t go outside play with her kids o Couldn t eat food from their gardens o Court ordered defendant to get rid of the smell in 6 months or be completely shut down by 12 o Court awarded no damages appellet court reversed ruling and arranged monetary sum for plaintiffs Conversion Defendants intentional exercise of dominion or control over the plaintiff s personal property without the plaintiff s consent o Liable if buys stolen property Nothing on Defamation of the Constitution on Test Publicity of Private Facts Humiliating
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