Unlock document.
This document is partially blurred.
Unlock all pages and 1 million more documents.
Get Access
Chapter 06 - Tort Law and Cybertorts
Chapter 6
Tort Law and Cybertorts
I. Key Terms
Abuse of process (p. 142) Fraud (p. 139)
Actual cause (p. 144) Fraudulent misrepresentation (p. 139)
Actual malice (p. 138) Injunction (p. 152)
Actual malice test (p. 138) Intentional or reckless infliction of
Assault (p. 136) emotional distress (p. 141)
Assumption of the risk (p. 147) Invasion of privacy (p. 120)
Battery (p. 136) Juriscience (p. 134)
Bring-your-own-device Last clear chance (p. 147)
(BYOD) (p. 151) Legal cause (p. 145)
Cause in fact (p. 144) Libel (p. 138)
Company-owned, Malicious prosecution (p. 141)
personally enabled devices (p. 151) Merchant protection statute (p. 137)
Comparative negligence (p. 147) Misuse of legal procedure (p. 141)
Contributory negligence (p. 147) Negligence (p. 142)
Cyber-bulletin board (p. 149) Noneconomic compensatory
Cyber-defamation (p. 149) damages (p. 152)
Cyber-disparagement (p. 150) Paradigm (p. 155)
Cyber-invasion of privacy (p. 150) Private information (p. 151)
Cybertort (p. 149) Proximate cause (p. 145)
Damages (p. 152) Punitive damages (p. 152)
Data mining (p. 151) Respondeat superior (p. 134)
Defamation (p. 138) Shopkeeper’s privilege (p. 137)
Defective condition (p. 148) Slander (p. 138)
Disparagement (p. 139) Statutes of repose (p. 155)
Duty (p. 134) Strict liability (p. 148)
Economic compensatory Temporary public figures (p. 138)
damages (p. 152) Tort (p. 138)
Exemplary damages (p. 152) Tortfeasor (p. 138)
False imprisonment (p. 137) Wrongful civil proceedings (p. 141)
Foreseeability test (p 145) Wrongful death statutes (p 154)
II. Learning Objectives
1. Differentiate between the objectives of tort law and those of criminal law.
2. Outline the nature of respondeat superior.
3. Discuss the element of duty.
4. Identify the principle intentional torts and outline the elements of each.
5. Explain the four elements of negligence.
6. Contrast contributory negligence, comparative negligence, and assumption of the
risk.
7. Judge when the doctrine of strict liability applies.
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 06 - Tort Law and Cybertorts
8. Discuss the emerging trends in cybertort law.
9. Outline the various remedies available in tort law.
10. Point out some developments in tort reform.
III. Major Concepts
6-1 Tort Law Defined
A tort is a private wrong that injures another person’s physical well-being, emotional
health, property, or reputation. A person who commits a tort is called a tortfeasor. The
other party is alternatively referred to as the injured party, the innocent party, or the
victim. The primary purpose of tort law is to compensate the innocent party by making up
for any loss suffered by that victim. The doctrine of respondeat superior may impose
legal liability on employers and make them pay for the torts committed by their
employees within the scope of the employer’s business.
6-2 Intentional Torts
The principal intentional torts include assault, battery, false imprisonment, defamation,
disparagement, fraudulent misrepresentation, invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of
emotional distress, and malicious prosecution.
6-3 Negligence
Negligence is the failure to exercise the degree of care that a reasonable person would
have exercised in the same circumstances. Negligence includes four elements: duty of
care, breach of duty through a failure to exercise the appropriate standard of care,
proximate cause, and actual harm. Three defenses to negligence are contributory
negligence, comparative negligence, and assumption of risk.
6-4 Strict Liability
Under the doctrine of strict liability, when people engage in ultrahazardous activities,
they will be liable for any harm that occurs because of that activity, regardless of intent
and regardless of care.
6-5 Cybertorts
Cyberrtorts involve computer data that has been invaded, distorted, falsified, misused,
destroyed, or exploited financially by an electronic device. Therefore, cybertorts rarely
involve any harm to a party’s physical well-being. Instead, the victim’s reputation has
been hurt because a false statement has been placed on the Internet, the victim’s
emotional state has been disturbed, because his or her privacy has been invaded by a
posting on Facebook, or the victim has suffered monetary harm because of identity theft.
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 06 - Tort Law and Cybertorts
6-6 Remedies for Torts
Tort remedies include monetary damages and injunctions.
6-7 Developments in Tort Law
Survival statutes allow a lawsuit to be brought even if both the plaintiff and the defendant
are deceased. Wrongful death statutes preserve the rights of third parties affected by the
death of the deceased to bring a lawsuit. Statutes of repose establish a limit in years
beyond which an injured party could not bring a lawsuit for an injury caused by a product
or by medical malpractice. Another reform that has been suggested in some states is the
application of comparative negligence as an affirmative defense in some product liability
cases.
IV. Outline
I. Tort Law Defined (6-1)
A. Tort Law Versus Criminal Law
1. Purposes of tort law are to compensate for an injured party’s loss and to protect
potential victims by deterring future tortious behavior.
2. Criminal law involves a public wrong.
3. A single act may be both a tort and a crime.
4. Double jeopardy does not protect a defendant from being sued under tort law after
that defendant has been tried in a criminal court for the same action.
B. Respondeat Superior
1. Employers can be held liable for torts of employees committed within the scope of
the employer’s business.
2. Employers and employees must have some working knowledge of tort law.
C. The Element of Duty
1. Duty is the first element of legal liability.
2. A duty is an obligation placed on individuals because of the law.
3. The second element of legal liability is violation of a duty.
D. Causation and Juriscience
1. There are two kinds of causation, actual cause and proximate cause.
2. The stage where science and law intersect is called juriscience.
3. Judges must determine the validity of scientific evidence.
4. Following the case of Daubert v. Merrell Dow, the federal rule on expert testimony
was amended to help judges make determinations in regard to the admissibility of
proffered scientific evidence. The rule states that an expert may testify on a scientific
matter if the three criteria below are satisfied.
a. Testimony is based upon sufficient facts or data.
b. The testimony is the product of reliable scientific principles and methods.
c. The witness has applied the principles and methods reliably to the facts of the
case.
5. Issues in regard to admissibility of expert scientific testimony remain, and some states
have tried to be more specific on requirements for admissibility.
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 06 - Tort Law and Cybertorts
II. Intentional Torts (6-2)
A. Assault and Battery
1. Assault is the creation of fear or apprehension of immediate bodily harm by a
tortfeasor who has apparent ability to inflict harm.
2. Battery is an offensive or harmful, unprivileged touching.
B. False Imprisonment
1. False imprisonment is the restriction of a person’s freedom of movement.
2. In cases of shoplifting most states allow storekeepers with reasonable grounds to
detain suspected shoplifters in a reasonable manner for a reasonable length of time.
3. Protection for shopkeepers is referred to as the shopkeeper’s privilege; and when it is
created by statute, that statute is commonly called the merchant protection statute.
C. Defamation and Disparagement
1. Defamation
a. Any false statement communicated to others that harms a person’s good name or
reputation may constitute defamation.
b. Defamation in a temporary form, such as speech, is slander.
c. Defamation in a permanent form, such as in writing, movies, videocassettes, or
DVDs, is libel.
d. When slander is involved, under common law actual loss is required unless the
false statement falls into certain categories such as that the person committed a
serious crime.
e. Truth is a defense in a defamation action.
f. Privileged statements are not subject to defamation lawsuits.
g. Statements made by senators and representatives on the floor of Congress are
privileged.
h. Statements made in a court of law are privileged.
i. Journalists have the protection of the actual malice test when they write about
public officials and public figures.
j. Actual malice means that a statement was made either with knowledge that it was
false or with a reckless disregard for its truth or falsity.
2. Disparagement
a. Disparagement involves any false statement communicated to others that
questions the quality of property or legal ownership rights.
b. Generally, to recover a plaintiff must show monetary loss.
D. Fraudulent Misrepresentation
1. Fraudulent misrepresentation occurs when false statements or actions are made which
induce reliance by another and cause injury or loss.
2. To demonstrate fraud in relation to a contract, the complaining party must prove the
existence of the five elements listed below.
a. That the other party made false representations about some material fact involved
in the contract.
b. That the other party made the representations knowing that they were false.
c. That the false representations were made with the intent that they be relied upon
by the innocent party.
d. That the complaining party made reasonable reliance on the false representations.
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 06 - Tort Law and Cybertorts
e. That the complaining part actually suffered some loss by relying on the false
representations.
E. Invasion of Privacy
1. Revelation of Confidential Records
a. Individuals who work with confidential records in their employment must ensure
that the records remain private.
b. It could be an invasion of privacy to discuss confidential matters for
nonprofessional reasons.
2. Intrusion
a. Privacy rights may be violated by an unwarranted intrusion into a person’s
expectation of privacy.
b. The issue is whether the plaintiff had a high expectation of privacy.
3. Creating a False Light
a. Creating a false light is akin to defamation.
b. It involves the publication of information about a person that shows the person in
an unfavorable manner.
4. Exploitation
a. Exploitation can occur when a party uses an individual’s photo, likeness, or name
without permission for advertising, marketing, or publicity.
b. Some courts treat the cause of action as a separate tort, calling it an invasion of
the right to publicity.
F. Infliction of Emotional Distress
1. Infliction of emotional distress includes intentional or reckless actions which cause
another to suffer severe emotional suffering.
2. Actions must be extreme and cause severe distress.
3. Many states allow recovery without an accompanying physical injury.
G. Misuse of Legal Procedure
1. The elements include:
a. Charges were brought against the plaintiff at an earlier time by the defendant.
b. The earlier case was resolved favorably for the plaintiff.
c. The earlier case was brought with malice and without probable cause.
2. Misuse of legal procedure is called wrongful civil proceedings with it involves the
filing of a false civil lawsuit.
3. Misuse of legal procedure is called malicious prosecution when it involves the
bringing of false criminal charges.
4. Abuse of process occurs when a legal procedure is used for a purpose other than that
for which it is intended.
5. There is no requirement for an abuse of process action that the earlier case be brought
without probable cause or that it have been resolved favorably for the plaintiff.
III. Negligence (6-3)
A. Elements of Negligence
1. Legal Duty
a. A legal duty must exist in order to establish liability through negligence.
b. Legal duty involves whether a tortfeasor should have reasonably foreseen a risk of
harm to the injured party.
2. Breach of Duty
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 06 - Tort Law and Cybertorts
a. A breach of duty occurs if the alleged tortfeasor has not met the appropriate
standard of care.
b. To determine whether a tortfeasor has met the appropriate standard of care, a
reasonable person test is used.
c. When a professional is involved, the jury would have to know how a reasonable
professional would act under similar circumstances.
3. Actual and Proximate Cause
a. For the tortfeasor to be held liable, the unreasonable conduct must be tied to
actual and proximate cause.
b. Actual cause, or cause in fact, demonstrates that the cause (the unreasonable
conduct) led to the effect (the injury to the plaintiff).
c. In determining proximate cause, the court asks whether the harm that resulted
from the original unreasonable conduct was foreseeable at the time of the original
action.
4. More on Proximate Cause
a. The principle of foreseeability is the foundation of causation.
b. Foreseeability is comprised of at least four spin-offs:
(a) Foreseeability and types of harm.
(b) Foreseeability and classes of victim.
(c) Foreseeability and the extent of harm.
(d) Foreseeability and the nature of the victim.
c. Foreseeability in relation to the extent of harm is quite extensive and will
probably not eliminate liability.
d. In relation to foreseeability and the nature of the victim, “the tortfeasor takes the
victim as he finds him” which is commonly referred to as “the egg-shell skull
principle.”
5. Actual Harm
a. The injured party must show that actual harm was suffered.
b. Harm due to fright or humiliation is difficult to demonstrate, and courts often
require actual physical injury.
c. Actual harm can come in the form of property damage.
B. Defenses to Negligence
1. Contributory Negligence
a. Contributory negligence involves the failure of the injured party to be careful
enough to ensure his or her personal safety.
b. Contributory negligence completely prevents an injured party from recovering
damages.
c. Under the doctrine of last clear chance, a tortfeasor may be held liable if the
injured party can show that the tortfeasor had the last clear chance to avoid injury.
2. Comparative Negligence
a. Comparative negligence offsets recovery by a percentage of negligence if injured
party was also negligent.
b. Some states allow no recovery if an injured party is more than 50 percent
negligent.
3. Assumption of Risk
a. Assumption of risk involves the voluntary exposure of the victim to a known risk.
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 06 - Tort Law and Cybertorts
b. If the victim was forced to enter the situation because of no other choice,
assumption of the risk does not exist.
IV. Strict Liability (6-4)
A. Grounds for Strict Liability
1. Strict liability is liability without fault.
2. Intent or negligence is not a factor.
3. Strict liability is generally applied when the harm results from an ultrahazardous or
very dangerous activity.
B. Product Liability
1. Product liability imposes liability on the manufacturer and seller of a product
produced and sold in a defective condition.
2. Liability extends to the producer, wholesaler and retailer.
3. In most states product liability is not available as a cause of action if the only property
damaged is the defective property itself.
V. Cybertorts (6-5)
A. The Nature of Cybertorts
1. An electronic tort involves the invasion, distortion, theft, falsification, misuse,
destruction, or exploitation of information stored in or related to electronic devices.
2. Physical harm to a victim is rare.
3. The victim’s reputation or emotional state may be harmed, or the victim may suffer
financial loss.
B. Cyber-defamation
a. Cyber-defamation is the communication of false and destructive information
through the use of electronic devices.
b. The Communications Decency Act was enacted to protect Internet service
providers from defamation suits for false statements posted by other individuals
on the Internet.
c. Most courts have found that Internet service providers are not liable when hackers
take action such as placing a virus into a system.
C. Cyber-disparagement
1. E-disparagement involves disparagement on the Internet.
2. Businesses that solicit videos from consumers used as advertisements on web site
postings are vulnerable.
D. Cyber-invasion of Privacy
1. Privacy and Employees
a. The low expectation of privacy that has existed in relation to governmental
employees also now extends to employees within the private sector.
b. The fact that a worker knows that the company monitors computer use means that
the expectation is low.
c. Issues arise when employees use their own devices at work.
(a) Some employers have the IT department configure personal devices so that
certain clearly identified functions are for business while others are for
personal use.
(b) The better approach is to distribute company-owned devices that the employee
is permitted to use for personal reasons, with the caveat that the personal
functions on the company-owned device may be open to inspection.
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 06 - Tort Law and Cybertorts
2. Privacy and Clients
a. The failure to protect client records on paper, on paper or in a computer, can result
in an invasion of privacy lawsuit.
b. Some courts have held that records stored in a computer require a degree of
protection greater than that given to paper records.
c. The law is unsettled in regard to computer related invasion of privacy.
3. Private Privacy and Public Privacy
a. The law recognizes a difference between private privacy and public privacy.
b. A concern that has arisen is the publication of what is essentially public
information.
4. Data Mining of Public Private Data
a. Data mining involves stringing multiple strings of data together for a package that
the target considers a compilation of private information although it came from
public sources.
b. To the extent that the victim is harmed, he or she ought to have a cause of action
against the hacker.
VI. Remedies for Torts (6-6)
A. The Right to Damages
1. Economic compensatory damages are those that are directly quantifiable.
2. Non-economic compensatory damages are those that are intangible and not directly
quantifiable.
3. An award of compensatory damages may be reduced in a state that uses comparative
negligence.
4. Punitive damages are meant to punish the tortfeasor and, some courts say, comfort the
victim.
B. The Right to an Injunction
1. An injunction is an order to prevent someone from performing a particular act or the
court may order a wrongdoer to take positive steps to alleviate a problem.
2. Contempt of court is a remedy for the deliberate failure to obey an injunction.
VII. Developments in Tort Law (6-7)
A. Survival Statutes and Wrongful Death
1. Survival Statutes
a. By passing survival statutes, many states have revised the common law rule that
at someone’s death, his or her right to bring a lawsuit also died.
b. Some limits are placed on survival statutes such as that suits cannot be brought for
libel or slander after the death of the defamed person.
2. Wrongful Death Statutes
a. Wrongful death statutes preserve the right to bring a lawsuit if a death is caused
by the negligence or intentional conduct of the person who caused the death.
b. Generally, only those family members who have lost the support of the deceased
have the right to bring a wrongful death suit.
B. The Tort Reform Movement
1. Statutes of Repose
a. Statutes of repose establish a limit in years beyond which an injured party could
not bring a lawsuit for an injury caused by a product.
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 06 - Tort Law and Cybertorts
b. The limitation would be placed on end users.
c. Statutes of repose have been suggested as a tort reform measure in medical
malpractice lawsuits.
d. Fraudulent activity may be an exception recognized by a statute of repose
2. Comparative Negligence and Product Liability
a. Under a comparative negligence theory, the responsibility of a manufacturer in a
product liability case may be lessened by the degree the plaintiff’s own
negligence contributes to his or her injury.
b. Some statutes say the manufacturer can escape liability altogether if the plaintiff’s
share in the responsibility exceeds fifty percent.
3. Wrongful Death Reform
a. Wrongful death reform measures maintain that a wrongful death action cannot be
instituted by family members if the deceased recovered damages from the
defendant in a prior lawsuit.
b. The deceased is said to have waived rights by recovering under the original
negligence action.
C. Cultural Paradigms and Balance in Tort Law
1. Cultural Paradigms
a. A paradigm is an unchallenged world view that establishes the rules by which
everyone in a particular culture thinks, speaks, and acts.
b. The problem with tort reform is that it challenges the assumptions of the legal
paradigm without offering an alternative paradigm.
2. Balance in Tort Law
a. Opponents of tort reform believe that the delicately balanced tort law paradigm is
threatened by clueless agents of tort reform.
b. A fundamental rule of the tort law paradigm is that people have a duty not to harm
one another and when they do cause harm, whether intentionally, through
carelessness, or by engaging in a dangerous activity, they pay.
V. Background Information
A. Cross-Cultural Notes
1. English law does not have an express right to privacy. A number of rights, however,
relate to privacy. For example, in some ways, the breach of confidence type of claim
approaches the right to privacy. This is discussed at the FindLaw UK website at
http://findlaw.co.uk/law/government/constitutional_law/fundamental_rights/500284.h
tml.
2. The European University Institute provides information about differing European
laws pertaining to defamation at http://journalism.cmpf.eui.eu/maps/defamation-law/.
3. The following article contains interesting information regarding the application of
foreign law to litigation, including torts: Eugene Volokh, Religious Law (Especially
Islamic Law) in American Courts, 66 Okla. L. Rev. 431 (2014).
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 06 - Tort Law and Cybertorts
B. Historical Fact
1. Much of British tort law developed over disputes about land ownership and between
neighbors. Because land was typically divided into scattered parcels,
disputes often arose between neighbors about boundaries and interference. A
typical tort was a violent raid by one land owner on a neighbor’s livestock or
produce. Common law had remedies for those who wanted to enjoy
their land properly. However, the Industrial Revolution brought new sources of
danger to the individual. As cities became more crowded, tort laws were devised to
address specific urban problems, such as assault. Offenses due to negligence, such as
carelessness with fire, spawned a new group of torts described as “negligence.”
2. An interesting account regarding the origination of tort law is contained in the
following article: Nelson P. Miller, An Ancient Law of Care, 26 Whittier L. Rev. 3
(2004).
C. State Variations
1. Information regarding various states and the application of contributory negligence
and comparative fault from the Claims Journal can be found at
http://www.claimsjournal.com/news/national/2013/09/05/235755.htm.
2. In Nebraska, any person engaged in the disposal of low-level radioactive waste is
subject to strict liability in tort for property damage, bodily injury, or death resulting
from such disposal.
3. In Tennessee, if damages are proven, an adult child may recover for loss of
consortium. See Jordan v. Baptist here Rivers Hospital, 984 S.W.2d 593 (1999).
VI. Terms
1. The words assault and somersault both come from the Latin verb salire, meaning
“to jump.”
2. During the Middle Ages, the term libellus, meaning “little book,” was used to
describe pamphlets or leaflets containing personal attacks on well-known
people.
Eventually the name on the leaflets, modified to libel, came to stand for any
published statement damaging to someone’s reputation.
3. “Hedonic damages” address the loss of the value of life and are general allowed. The
term was coined by a Chicago economist, Stan V. Smith.
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 06 - Tort Law and Cybertorts
VII. Related Cases
1. In a November 1983 issue of Hustler magazine, a parody of an advertisement portrayed
television evangelist Jerry Falwell as a drunken, incestuous hypocrite. The parody
contained a disclaimer, “ad parody—not to be taken seriously.” In Hustler Magazine,
Inc. v. Falwell, 485 U.S. 46 (1988), the U.S. Supreme Court addressed Falwell’s claim
for the intentional infliction of emotional distress and ruled that in such cases, public
figures may not recover for the tort of the intentional infliction of emotional distress
without showing that the publication contains a false statement of fact which was made
with actual malice, meaning knowledge that the statement was false or with reckless
disregard as to its truth or falsity.
2. As reported in the online ABA Journal, at
http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/jury_awards_patient_500k_for_doctors_defam
atory_comments_while_he_was_sedat, a Virginia jury in 2015 awarded a patient
$500,000, including $200,000 in punitive damages, because of defamatory comments
made by his anesthesiologist while he was sedated for a colonoscopy.
3. As reported in the online ABA Journal, at
http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/jury_awards_150m_against_chrysler_in_fiery_
death_of_boy_4_after_jeep_is_rea, a Georgia jury awarded $150 million against Fiat
Chrysler Automobiles NV in a case involving the death of a four-year-old in a fiery
rear-end crash. Design of the position of the gas tank in the vehicle at issue was
involved.
4. When a drunken man tripped on a rotten plank in a sidewalk and then sued for damages,
the judge in an early California case stated that “a drunken man has as good a right to a
perfect sidewalk as a sober man, and he needs one a good deal more.”
5. In Chadd v. U.S., ___ F.3d ___, 2015 WL 4509174, a divided Ninth Circuit ruled that
sovereign immunity protects the U.S. government from being held liable for a mountain
goat’s attack on a park visitor. The court ruled that the park service had discretion under
the Federal Tort Claims Act to decide how the animal that was known to be aggressive
should be handled.
6. The Supreme Court of Mississippi found that an issue of fact as to the horse owner’s
negligence precluded an entry of summary judgment in a case in which a runaway horse
crashed into an automobile. Carpenter v. Nobile, 620 So.2d 961 (Miss. 1993).
7. A motorcyclist sued a truck stop restaurant after he hit a pothole in the parking lot and
received head injuries. The appellate court found the motorcyclist 50 percent at fault for
not wearing a helmet and for not avoiding the pothole. As a result, his damages award
was cut in half. Landry v. Roe, 597 So.2d 14 (La. 1992).
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 06 - Tort Law and Cybertorts
VIII. Teaching Tips and Additional Resources
1. The web site of the U.S. Department of Justice has a “Computer Crime and Intellectual
Property” section at http://www.cybercrime.gov/. The site contains information
regarding how to report cyber crime along with reports of recent arrests and other
information.
2. An article addressing disagreement as to medical malpractice reform can be found in
Forbes at
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2011/02/10/gop-fights-with-itself-over-medical-
malpractice-reform/.
3. The Internet site for FindLaw.com has an article titled “Defamation: When Careless
Words Can Be Costly” at http://library.findlaw.com/1999/Jul/1/128248.html.
4. At the Internet site for CNN,
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0103/29/lkl.00.html, an interview between
Larry King; Marc Christian; and Christian’s lawyer, Marvin Mitchelson discussing the
litigation involving Christian’s relationship with Rock Hudson and the settlement he
received.
5. An article titled “How Privacy Vanishes Online” from the New York Times addressing
data mining is available at
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/technology/17privacy.html.
6. Students may confuse the concept of product liability with warranties. Explain that a
person’s rights under the product liability law are based on obligations of the seller or
manufacturer rather than on warranty coverage included as part of an agreement. A
seller or manufacturer can rarely, if ever, use contract terms to modify obligations
imposed by product liability laws or to limit amounts a person can recover as damages.
Thus, a person can use product liability laws to hold a seller or manufacturer liable for
product defects, even if they are not covered in a warranty.
7. Ask students if they have ever been victims of a tort. If so, did the torts involve damage
to their physical well-being, their property, or their reputation? Ask students if the torts
could be categorized as crimes.
8. Have students research state laws that apply to shoplifting. Suggest that they also talk to
store owners about how they handle shoplifters—what are responsible grounds for
suspecting a person of shoplifting and what constitutes a reasonable method of handling
a suspected shoplifter?
9. An article from The Washington Post titled “Why Tort Liability for Data Breaches Won’t
Improve Cybersecurity,” discussing why tort lawsuits are an ineffective method for
causing companies to improve security measures, is available at
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 06 - Tort Law and Cybertorts
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/01/11/why-tort-liabi
lity-for-data-breaches-wont-improve-cybersecurity/.
10. Information is available from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security regarding
cybersecurity, including a section on cybersecurity insurance to protect against risk, at
http://www.dhs.gov/topic/cybersecurity.
11. A 2015 USA Today article titled “Cop Who Sued Starbucks for Hot Coffee Delayed ER”
reports on the progress of a lawsuit against Starbucks.
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
