Tort
~A wrongful act leading to civil liability
~A violation of a duty imposed by civil law (e.g. fraud, negligence, assault, etc.)
~Filed by the wronged (treated unfairly) party
~Usually no prior agreement between parties
The Basis of Tort Law
~Classification of Torts:
– Intentional – Stabbing a colleague b/c you’re in a bad mood
– Unintentional (negligence-no fault) – You throw a baseball bat in a crowded area, not
intending to hurt anyone but you hit a bystander who gets injured. The plaintiff must
prove that the defendant did not exercise the proper degree of care
– Strict Liability (absolute liability) – If you own a wild animal and it caused injury,
liability is assumed
Intentional Torts: Defamation
~Defamation – Involves false statements that harm someone’s reputation
– Libel: Written defamation
– Slander: Oral defamation
~Elements in a defamation case
– Defamatory statement
– Falseness – the statement has to be false
– Communicated to someone other than the plaintiff
– Injury – the plaintiff must show injury (but if defamation by radio or TV, the courts chose
to consider it libel w/o needing proof)
~Slander Per Se
– False statements about sexual behavior, crimes, contagious diseases, and professional
abilities
– Don’t need to prove injury in these cases since it’s difficult to measure
– The plaintiff must show slanderous statement which caused them to suffer
economic/monetary loss
~Opinion – Generally cannot be proven true or false
– Doesn’t usually amount to defamation
~Related Defense – Cases where a supposed statement of fact clearly shouldn’t be taken literally
~Online defamation (make sure everything’s true before posting statements online)
~Privilege
– Defendants receive additional protection from defamation cases when it’s important for
them to speak freely
– E.G.: How to hold another accountable for true but embarrassing/private comments
~Absolute Privilege: A witness testifying in a court or legislature may never be sued for
defamation
Intentional Torts: False Imprisonment
~Intentional restraint of another person w/o reasonable cause and without consent
– Most commonly arise in retail stores, which sometimes detain employees/customers for
suspected theft
Intentional Torts: Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
~This is an intentional tort in which the harm results from extreme & outrageous conduct causes
serious emotional harm (e.g. a plaintiff can use anxiety from a Halloween prank gone wrong to
show they’ve suffered extreme emotional distress)
Additional Intentional Torts
~Battery – An intentional touching of another person that’s harmful/offensive
(touching/hitting/throwing something @ someone)
~Assault – An act that makes a person fear potential battery (pulling a gun that’s unloaded)
~Fraud – Injuring another person by deliberate deception (typically during contract negotiation)
Compensatory Damages
