Legal Environment of Business Exam 2 Review Professor 1 Sam Hodge Spring 2012 Torts he law of torts seeks to reimburse an individual who suffers loss because of dangerous unreasonable conduct of others Negligence circumstances failure to do what a reasonable person would do under Elements of Negligence Duty Standard of care liable Save and rescue If a child is performing a duty for the employer parent parent may be Duty is present if specific relationship is present Not required to protect individuals from unnecessary lawsuits If you are medically trained and render Good Samaritan law emergency help you will only be liable for gross misconduct Land owners Trespassing Business visitor Someone that comes to property without legal right to be there Duty you owe to trespasser is to not hurt them purposefully Someone that comes for business purposes patron Duty to inspect property for defects liability even if there was no knowledge of defect Licensee legal right of being there defects that cause injury Attractive nuisance A person that comes onto property with owner s consent and the No liability for defects owner doesn t know about liable for known Land owners have a duty and can be liable for not childproofing property 2 Breech of duty Proximate cause causing the harm Damages The link between the breech of duty and damages In other words the negligent conduct must be a substantial factor in The amount of money the injured party receives Punitive damages The amount of money the court awards to the individual party to punish the liable Defenses of Negligence Contributory negligence The person suing has fault as well as the individual being sued Case is thrown out of court Comparative negligence Comparison as to which side has more fault Reward is cut down by percent of negligence on your part Assumption of risk Insanity is not a defense to negligence Occurs when the plaintiff knows of the danger and voluntarily exposes him herself to the risk Imputative Negligence Negligence that comes from a special relationship Employee employer If the employee commits the tort within the scope of the authority the employer is liable Husband Wife Parent child Independent contractors are not considered imputative negligence A person who contracts to do work on his own and is not liable to the Liability of Parents generally parents not liable for torts of children unless control of the employer parent directly at fault or agency PA has a statute that makes parents liable when no insurance is available In that case a parent is liable up to 1 000 per person and 2 500 per incident if child commits tortuous act Intentional Torts 3 Infliction of emotional distress Assault Verbal words that put you in fear of immediate battery Intentional touching in a harmful or offensive manner Battery Invasion of privacy Defamation False statement Necessary publication False statement that lowers public reputation in the community Libel Written Slander Oral False imprisonment Products liability Unlawful detention of a person against his her own will Manufacturer is responsible for the products they assemble Lack of proper warning Defect in design Manufacturing defects Criminal Law A Crime 1 Defined by legislature enforced by police 2 You can do whatever you want as long as it is not defined as crime a Burglary entry into any building occupied structure with the intent of committing a crime 1 Up to 20 years 4 b Criminal trespassing entry into any building occupied structure without permission c Larceny taking and carrying away property of another without consent and with the intent of deprivation of goods permanently 1 Taking of property trusted to you with the intent to deprive the owner d Shoplifting Retail Theft 1 Depends upon value of stolen goods e Embezzlement of the property f Robbery 1 Same as theft plus force or threat of force 2 7 20 years g Electronic Fencing 1 Selling of stolen property h Identity Theft 1 Stealing someone else s personal identity and using it to personal advantage 3 Conspiracy an unlawful manner a Agreement between 2 people to commit a crime or commit a lawful act in b Planning is not enough to prove conspiracy evidence is necessary c Penalty is same as crime conspiring to a Bribery 4 White Collar crimes 1 Offering something of value with the intent of influencing a decision or to have something done in return b Money laundering 1 Illegal stolen money put to use in a legal means 1 Buying selling stock with knowledge from a high ranking inside c Insider Trading employee d False Bank Statements 1 This crime occurs whenever a person makes a also statement of a material fact or overvalued property for purposes of inducing a bank to take action e Bankruptcy Fraud 1 Planning to commit fraud by filing false bankruptcy 5 This crime occurs when a person devises a scheme to defraud by o Filing a false document in a bankruptcy proceeding 2 Making a fraudulent representation or claim in a bankruptcy case f Criminal liability in businesses 1 Due to the special relationship actions of employees give liability to employer a Employee must have the authority to commit action which he is criminally charged for b Employee must be acting on behalf of the business c Management must have authorized tolerated actions of employee 2 Cook the books make false statements to exaggerate financial earnings 5 Police Investigation a 4th Amendment 1 Legal means of search and seizure 2 Prohibits police officer to search property without a warrant 3 Warrants a Specific place and item b 5th Amendment 1 Guarantees you will be protected from incriminating yourself c Miranda Warnings 1 Given to individuals with custody 2 Statements made without Miranda are thrown out 3 Only applies to spoken words d Custody e Hot pursuit 1 Lacking the freedom to leave any particular space 1 If the police are in hot pursuit of a suspect they do not have to break off the chase to obtain a warrant f Consent 1 You can consent to a warrant less search but it must be a free and voluntary decision g General police measure 1 Airport search 2 Customs h Stop and frisk