Chapter 8 Torts A tort is a civil wrong other than a breech of contract The law recognizes the right of a victim of a tort to recover compensation in the form of money damages from the wrongdoer Tort is not a crime although criminal charges may come later Breech of contract is not a tort Tort law reflects society s determination of which injuries should be compensated which interested protected and which conduct deterred When an employee of a business commits a tort the liability of the business is determined under the principal of respondeat superior let the master answer o A business is liable for the torts of an employee who is acting within the scope of his or her employment Intentional Torts voluntary acts that invade a protected interest The tortfeasor intends to cause injury o Battery Assault Battery is an unprivileged unwanted touching of another To be liable for a battery the tortfeasor must intend to touch the other person article of clothing or something the victim is carrying Sexual harassment may be a battery Assault is causing another person to be apprehensive about a battery Threatening to stroke someone or advancing towards someone with the intent to sexually violate that person is deemed an assault o Intentional Infliction of emotional distress Provides a remedy for conduct intended to unjustifiably upset the victim Simple insults do not give rise to this tort Conduct must be outrageous the person must intend to cause the distress To recover damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress the plaintiff must actually suffer severe mental distress Debra Agis V Howard Johnson Co Issue Does the outrageous manor in which the manager fired waitresses of the Ground Round allow for the waitress to sue for emotional distress Holding Yes it fits the 4 requirements 1 the actor intended to inflict the distress 2 the conduct was extreme and outrageous 3 the actions were the cause of the distress 4 the emotional distress was severe and of the nature that no man could be expected to endure Facts Someone was steeling money the manager started firing waitresses in alphabetical order Debra Agis was the first to go o False Imprisonment Interference with a victim s freedom of movement May occur when a merchant detains a suspected shoplifter However the law recognizes the right for a merchant to protect themselves against shoplifting If a merchant reasonably believes that a person has shoplifted the merchant is privileged to restrain the person for a reasonable period of time to investigate or summon the police o Defamation Libel Slander The tort of defamation protects a person s interest in his or her reputation Libel is written defamation Slander is oral defamation Requires proof that The tortfeasor made a defamatory statement And intended to communicate the statement The statement identifies the victim to a reasonable reader The statement was communicated to a 3rd party The victim s reputation was damaged The 1st amendment makes defamation hard to prove Ie the public figure must prove the tortfeasor knew the statement was false Most states require that a victim of slander establish actual damage to his or her reputation However some statements that are clearly defamatory are presumed to cause damages referred to as slander per se A statement adversely reflecting on a persons business A statement that a person is afflicted with a loathsome A statement that a person has committed a crime of trade or profession communicable disease moral turpitude A statement imputing unchaste behavior to a person Truth is an absolute defense The burden to prove that the statement was true lies with the defendant Is knowing and intentional misrepresentation of material fact To recover damages the following must be established A false representation of a material fact Knowledge by the person that the fact is false An intent to induce the listener to rely on the representation Justifiable reliance on the representation by the listener o Deceit Damage to the duped party resulting from such reliance The morals of the marketplace change so does the definition of deceit Caveat emptor let the buyer beware o Invasion of Privacy Tort law recognizes four distinct privacy rights Intrusion unauthorized entry or peering into someone s home eavesdropping repeated or unwanted phone calls access to someone s bank accounts etc Public disclosure of private facts disclosing to the public the intimate facts of one s life Must not be publicly known and must be offensive Ie unpaid debt medical pictures sexual relations False light in the public eye a person has the right to be free from having false information public disseminated Broader than defamation because it doesn t have to be defamatory Appropriation Tort law prohibits the use of the plaintiff s name or likeness for financial benefit without consent Janice Rushing v Hershey Corp Issue Is drug testing by an employer an invasion of privacy Holding No it fails the test for an invasion of privacy There was no intrusion physical or otherwise Urinalysis is not something someone has a right to keep private in an employment setting Facts Janice Rushing s results came back inconclusive and she refused to give another sample She was terminated after 17 years of work o Disparagement False statements that injure a person s interest in property as opposed to one s reputation amount of disparagement Ie claiming that a butcher went out of business This is not defamatory but still injures the business Harder to prove than defamation Plaintiffs must prove that the statements were false malicious and that they resulted in monetary loss o Palming off If an advertiser represents its goods in a way that deceives the average buyer into believing them to be the goods of a competitor May include imitating trademarks etc o Interference with Contract The intentional and wrongful interference with a contract Extends to potential contracts as well as existing ones o o Trespass Trespass to personal property movable and trespass to real property land The tortfeasor is liable for damages personal property if the victim can prove Interference w the owner s right of possession Intent to do the act that constituted the interference Interference caused damage to the owner s personal property If the interference is so great that is deprives the owner of its value the tortfeasor may have to pay the market value of the property to the owner This is known as conversion One doesn t have to