Chapter 6 Intentional Torts Tort a civil wrong that is not a breach of a a o Intent the desire to cause certain consequences or the substantial certainty that those consequences will result from one s behavior o Recklessness a conscious indifference to a known and substantial risk of harm created by one s behavior more severe than negligence o Negligence failure to use reasonable care with harm to another party occurring as a result o Strict liability is liability without fault or more precisely liability irrespective of fault do not have to prove recklessness negligence ect The standard of proof in a tort case is the preponderance of the evidence standard the greater weight of the evidence introduced at the trial must support the plaintiff s position on every element of the tort case Compensatory damages what a plaintiff who wins a tort case usually recovers for the harm she suffered as a result of the defendant s wrongful act Punitive damages not intended to compensate tort victims for their losses intended to punish wrongdoers to deter them and others from engaging in similar conduct in the future reserved for the worst kind of wrongdoing Interference with Personal Rights Battery is the intentional and harmful or offensive touching of another without his consent also includes non harmful contact that is offensive intent is either the intent to cause harmful or offensive contact or the intent to cause apprehension that such contact is imminent Transferred intent a defendant who intends to injure one person but actually injures another is liable to the person injured Assault occurs when there is an intentional attempt or offer to cause a harmful or offensive contact with another person o It is irrelevant whether the threatened contact actually occurs o Key thing is the plaintiff s apprehension All courts require that a wrongdoer s conduct be outrageous before liability for emotional distress arises Restatement Second of Torts Some courts say that the plaintiff s distress must be distress that a reasonable person of ordinary sensibilities would suffer Courts also differ in the extent to which they allow recovery for emotional distress suffered as a result of witnessing outrageous conduct After the decisions in Falwell and Snyder it is fair to say that the First Amendment makes a speech based intentional infliction of emotional distress case hard to win False imprisonment is the intentional confinement of another person for an appreciable time without his consent Conditional privilege statute gives store owners the right to stop suspected shoplifters Defamation the unprivileged publication of false and defamatory statements concerning another is likely to harm the reputation of another by injuring his community s estimation of him or by deterring others from dealing with him Libel refers to written or printed defamation physical form most courts treat radio TV as libel and statements made on the internet o Plaintiffs can recover for libel without proof of special damages actual reputional injury and other actual harm Slander refers to all other defamatory statements mainly oral o Slander per se bad defendant must have said the plaintiff committed a crime involving moral turpitude or potential imprisonment loathsome disease incompetent or guilty of professional misconduct or is guilty of serious sexual misconduct Fictional accounts characters resembling real ppl can be considered defamatory if a reasonable person would be able to connect the dots Only small groups can recover damage to her own reputations not individuals in large groups Dead can not recover damages corporations can Publisher is liable distributer is not Absolute privilege shields the author of a defamatory statement regardless of her knowledge motive or intent Conditional privilege give the defendant a defense unless the privilege is abused o Statements made to protect or further the legitimate interests of another I worked for A I am applying to B B contacts A A says I think that she stole from me o Statements made to promote a common interest o Fair comment protects fair and accurate media reports of defamatory matter The 1st amendment has a role to play in certain defamation cases When a public official brings a defamation case he must prove not only the usually elements of defamation but also a 1st Amendment based fault requirement known as actual malice by clear and convincing evidence Public figures o Well known to a large segment of society though their own voluntary efforts must prove actual malice in any defamation case o Have voluntarily places themselves at the forefront of a particular public controversy must prove actual malice when the statement giving rise to the case relates in some sense to the pubic controversy as to which they are a public figure Private figures o Private figures do not have to prove actual malice o The Court sought to balance the respective interests by developing in Gertz a two rule approach Liability private figure plaintiff must prove some level of fault as set by state law so long as that level of fault was at least negligence Damages if the plaintiff proved only negligence the recoverable damages would be restricted to compensatory damages this applies only when the private figure plaintiff s case is based on a statement of public concern as opposed to private concern if the subject is on private concern they can also get punitive damages Invasion of privacy o Intrusion on solitude or seclusion o Public disclosure of private facts o False light publicity o Commercial appropriation of name of likeness Misuse of legal proceedings o Malicious prosecution affords a remedy for the wrongful institution of criminal proceedings recovery for malicious prosecution requires that the defendant caused the criminal proceedings to be initiated against the plaintiff without probable cause the defendant did so for an improper purpose and the criminal proceedings eventually were terminated in the plaintiff s favor o Wrongful use of civil proceedings is designed to protect people from wrongfully instituted civil suits o Abuse of process imposes liability on those who initiate legal proceedings for a primary purpose other than the one for which the proceedings were designed Deceit aka fraud liability for fraud requires proof of a false statement of material fact that was knowingly or recklessly made by the defendant with the intent to induce reliance by the plaintiff Interference with
View Full Document
Unlocking...