MGMT 211 Lecture 9 Outline of Current Lecture I Chapter 5 Current Lecture a Torts i Civil wrongs not talking criminal 1 The same incident can give rise to a tort case and you can be arrested under criminal law ii Civil law provides you with a remedy iii Common law reasonable persons standard iv 3 basic types of torts 1 Intentional torts 2 Negligence 3 Strict Liability v Intentional torts intentional act that results in the harm doesn t mean that you meant to hurt someone but it happens 1 Pulling a chair out from underneath someone the intentional act was pulling the chair out not hurting them you re responsible 2 Negligence careless reckless conduct a Car wreck most people do not plan on getting in a wreck carelessness or reckless 3 Strict Liability abnormally dangerous activities if you do the activity and someone gets hurt you pay a You keep a wild animal as a pet and someone gets hurt b Tearing down a building if someone gets hurt they would have been responsible i Even with all safety precautions still responsible c Private citizen v private citizen d Common law and state law i Will vary from state to state e States have come in and added statutory rules laws vi Purpose of tort law compensation vii Normal damages are compensatory damages as well as punitive damages also called exemplary damages 1 Punishment make them serve as an example of what not to do for other people 2 8th amendment doesn t apply a Insurance companies and lobbyists have done a great job in limiting the amount of punitive damages you can receive i Percentage of the actual compensatory damages you receive ii Texas only 3 times the amount of compensatory damages viii Ways a business is involved in torts 1 Agency law actions by employees employers are responsible for the actions of their employees a If an employee commits a tort on another business the company of that employee has more money i If you get beaten up by a 16 year old worker at McDonald s McDonald s will pay 2 Business can commit a tort against another business a Business intentional torts 3 Products liability product created can hurt someone and they have to pay 4 Reasonable person test ix Intentional torts 1 Personal intentional directed at a person a Assault scaring someone the bad guy does something to cause intense fear or apprehension of an immediate bodily harm or offensive touching i Involves a person can t assault a dog but you can use a dog to scare a person ii Intentional iii You put a reasonable person in fear that this is going to happen you really threaten them iv It doesn t have to happen it s the threat of it v Criminal assault is different from civil assault 1 A security guard catches someone shoplifting threatens her with a gun or tells her he d rape her b c d e 2 It doesn t matter if they carry the act out but a reasonable person in a like situation would have been afraid Battery intentional carrying out the assault with bodily harm or offensive touching Assault and battery you scare them first and then you carry it out Defenses i Consent in a rugby game you will probably be touched where you don t want to be and be clobbered but you gave permission to play the game 1 You can still go beyond what is allowed can bring on criminal charges 2 Privileged If an officer does a thorough search you ll be touched where you don t want to be touched it s allowed to prevent from drugs coming into the jail 3 Self defense you can even use deadly force to prevent your death or someone else s a You can only use deadly force if deadly force is used against you or someone else b You can t use deadly force to protect your property i If a thief is running out with your t v you can t shoot them ii You have a duty to flee even from your own home you don t confront the intruder if you can t leave c States have come in and make statutory laws to protect you False imprisonment intentional holding or detaining of a person within boundaries if the person is harmed by such detention i How will a business be in trouble 1 Shoplifting major problem for retailers they have shopkeeper s privilege you detain someone until the police comes in to take them away a A lot of stores won t stop you because the liability is so bad b State statutes as long as a state follows certain guidelines they will be safe from being sued f Emotional distress i Do juries buy the fact that you were emotionally upset It s difficult to convince they can t see pictures of your distraught mind 1 It has to be beyond the bounds of decency by a long shot 2 Some states require physical manifestation of emotional distress 3 If you get there the payoff is huge a Tough to win and keep in Texas 4 Collection agencies these people know what the law is and will push as far as they can g Invasion of privacy someone invades your right to privacy in an unwarranted manner does not mean unwanted i People do stupid things in public all the time it s not private anymore you are naked on a beach and someone takes a picture not private ii Public figures lose a lot of their right to privacy 1 Brad Pitt with girlfriend Gwenyth Paltrow and were naked on a beach pictures were taken and sold to Playgirl iii What you do in public is not private iv Applies to public figures as well as normal people v Businesses illegal wiretapping eavesdropping on your emails public disclosure about private facts placing you in false light h Defamation not protected speech you intentionally make a statement about another person that s false that injures their reputation or good name i You have to make the statement ii It has to be false iii It has to injure their reputation or good name 1 Publication a third party has to hear it a Has to happen for defamation to occur 2 If something is true it is not defamation a Depending on the case it could be invasion of privacy iv Public figures 4th element you have to prove it was maliciously made 1 You have to prove they made an intentionally false statement 2 National Enquirer an old woman got pregnant by the postman and she was the oldest woman to get pregnant a Lady wasn t dead writer had to get on the stand and admit that they made up the story b She wasn t a public figure so the National Enquirer was in the wrong v Written libel 1 Anything oral can be written if recorded 2 Easier to prove i Per se the harm is understood i If Swim says you re a child molester most people …