Tortus twisted crooked behavior leading to victim harm 1 Definition a civil wrong other than breach of contract for which the law provides a Tort remedy in the form of a lawsuit for money damages a You can sue if you ve been the victim of a civil wrong b Not talking about crimes lawsuit 2 A tort involves a direct interference with a Person or i Ex Your body someone hitting you shooting knifing or battery b Property or i Ex trespassing c Intangible interests i Intangible incapable of being touched ii Ex Reputation slander libel defamation Tort Liability 1 Intentional Tort deliberately mean to do it intentionally hitting someone doesn t always have to involve violence 2 Negligence carelessness causing tort 3 Strict Liability imposing liability strictly if you commit an act and it causes injury you are still responsible limited to very dangerous ultra hazardous activity even if not done intentionally and with care I INTENTIONAL TORTS deliberate acts Can you have battery without assault Yes hit someone from behind didn t see you coming injured while sleeping Can you have assault without battery Yes does not involve contact A Assault intentional act of putting another person in apprehension for his physical safety a Doing something that scares you into thinking you will get hurt b Example Pointing a Gun c Example Squirt Gun Incident water gun was pointed at a woman as a joke but she didn t know it was a squirt gun she reasonably believed it was a gun resulted in a felony and arrested for assault 1 Actual physical contact is not required 2 There must be present right now apparent ability to carry out the threat a Apparent ability appearance what does it look like THE SAME ACT MAY BE BOTH A TORT AND A CRIME Someone can be arrested prosecuted and sued for the tort Almost always the criminal case goes first burden of proof is different Not double jeopardy because tort is not a crime Tort lower standard of proof required B Battery intentional touching of another person without consent or justification 1 a Touching any contact violent or not body contact can include a projectile set in i Ex Second Hand Smoke 4 states consider it touching in the case of battery b Justification policemen fleeing felon rule self defense for own safety or safety of motion others c Consent not tort of battery if there is consent 1 Consent a Express by words if nothing is said it becomes difficult best in terms of clarity person says yes or no b Implied by conduct pick up sports games sometimes beyond consented touching implied depends what the context is c Informed Consent consent without knowledge is no consent at all medical procedures agree to surgery and explain what is going to happen so you know what s going on if parts are left out or you sign something without knowledge DAMAGES IN INTENTIONAL TORT CASES a lot like crime 1 Actual compensatory compensate you for damages loss 2 Punitive punishing deterrence done to teach a lesson punishing the person group that did wrong to make sure it doesn t happen again a Example Informed Consent Case Doctor was sued for branding the letters UK on a woman s uterus before removing it the tape showed letters being inscribed two other woman later came forward saying it happened to them too after watching their operation s video Woman claimed it was a mockery and she was used as a toy Not illegal to be tacky or trivial the case settled b Example Woman got 2 million from a pharmacist diluting drugs out of greed his assets of 12 million was seized C False Imprisonment intentional confinement or restraint of a person without consent or justification office in a mall a Restraint of liberty don t have to be locked up in a cell can be held in a manager s b Justification apprehending a suspect citizens arrest voluntary confinement mental health asylum involuntary entrance to a mental health clinic but it s a danger to society i Example Teen sues over psychiatric facility Wrongly imprisoned for 14 months deprived of her school and care State Senator had to intervene and transfer her she was bound and drugged falsely imprisoned after the first 72 hours it was unjustified ii Example Witherspoon filed false imprisonment after paparazzi blocked her in at the gym they restrained her liberty to go where she wanted D Abuse of Process groundless no basis institution of civil proceedings against a person a No basis for suing someone b Frivolous law suit c Spite suit someone is trying to harass you d The other person can sue back for loss of time legal fees work 2 E Defamation or ridicule i e harms the reputation publication of false statements which holds a person up to hatred contempt a Publication at least 3 people are involved b False distribution information that isn t true 1 Slander oral defamation A B and C are involved 2 Libel written defamation every written thing printed is its own count each book or magazine 3 Defamacast broadcast on television internet radio millions hear see it 4 Defamation Per Se assume reputation is hurt a Accusation of Crime False b Statement that Degrades Person in Business Profession c Accusation of having a loathsome disease venereal disease d Truth is a defense to a defamation lawsuit Per Se in and of itself 5 Privilege a Absolute even if statement is false speaker write is immune from liability i Judicial proceedings or court proceeding doesn t have to be an actual trial ii Legislative proceedings The law is interested in promoting freedom of expression in judicial proceedings b Qualified rather make mistakes then have someone suffer through retaliation pertinent to business if your sued you automatically win appropriate circumstances merit this even if statement is false speaker writer is immune from liability if i Statement made in goo faith AND ii Statement made by person with legitimate interest AND iii Statement made in reasonable manner SCENARIO Restaurant Case Owner to Cashier You are not ringing up the cash in the register Cashier to Owner Are you accusing me of stealing Owner to Cashier Well you re not ringing up the cash Cashier sues owner for slander Result o The cashier s point was that he didn t ask if she needed help he just accused her of doing something wrong o Judge said that you don t have to say it owner said she was the one accusing herself she brought up the idea of theft o Cashier said she was falsely accused of stealing publication of false statements o The register was broken true statement so she could not ring everything up
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