BUS LAW C5 Q2

What is Negligence?

A lack of ordinary care defined as the failure to use that degree of care that a reasonably prudent person would have used under the same circumstances. It may arise from doing an act that a reasonably prudent person would not have done, or failing to do an act that a reasonably prudent person would have done.

What are the elements of a Negligence claim?

To prevail on a negligence claim under NY law (such as Pasternack v. Laboratory Corp. of America Holding), a plaintiff must demonstrate: (1) a duty owed by the defendant to the plaintiff, (2) a breach of that duty, and (3) an injury proximately resulting therefrom.

What is Duty in Negligence law?

The obligation defined by the risk reasonably to be perceived, where "risk imports relation; it is risk to another or to others within the range of apprehension" (Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad).

What is the standard of care for Professionals in Negligence?

A heightened standard imposed upon individuals with special training, experience, and/or licensing, requiring the duty of a reasonably competent specialist in the field rather than a ordinary reasonable person standard.

What is the Landowner Standard of Care?

A duty owed by property owners to individuals injured on their property that, in many states, varies depending on the status of the person injured (e.g., trespassing adults vs. trespassing children, or licensees vs. invitees).

What is Negligence Per Se?

A doctrine applied when a legislature establishes a minimum standard of conduct for a specific activity to protect a certain class of people, allowing an injured party to prove liability simply by proving the statute was violated without having to separately prove the conduct was unreasonable.

What is Foreseeability in Negligence?

The requirement that there must be a reasonably foreseeable danger of injury to another and conduct that is unreasonable in proportion to that danger; injury as a result of negligent conduct must be not merely possible, but probable.

What is Comparative Fault under PJI 2:36?

A legal defense where the jury considers whether the plaintiff was also negligent and if their negligence was a substantial factor in bringing about the accident/injury, with the burden of proof resting on the defendant.

What is NY CPLR Section 1411?

The New York statute governing comparative fault, which establishes that a claimant's culpable conduct (including contributory negligence or assumption of risk) does not bar recovery, but diminishes damages in proportion to the claimant's culpable conduct relative to the conduct that caused damages.

What is NY CPLR Section 1412?

The New York statute establishing that culpable conduct claimed in diminution of damages under Section 1411 is an affirmative defense that must be pleaded and proved by the party asserting it.

What is Factual Cause in Negligence?

The element of causation requiring that the injury resulted directly or indirectly from the negligent act or omission, which can be broken by a superseding cause—a condition or event that breaks the chain of causation.

What is Proximate Cause under PJI 2:70?

An act or omission regarded as a cause of an injury if it was a substantial factor in bringing about the occurrence, meaning it had such an effect in producing the injury that reasonable people would regard it as a cause.

What is Res Ipsa Loquitur?

A doctrine meaning "the thing speaks for itself," allowing a court to infer negligence and causation when: (1) the event ordinarily does not occur without negligence, (2) it was caused by an instrumentality in the exclusive control of the defendant, and (3) it was not due to any voluntary act by the plaintiff.

What is Strict Liability for Ultra-hazardous Activities?

A legal doctrine where a defendant engaging in an ultra-hazardous activity is almost always held liable for any resulting harm regardless of fault, shifting the primary focus of the case to whether the activity itself was ultra-hazardous.

What are the three main types of Product Defects?

(1) Design Defects, (2) Manufacturing Defects, and (3) Failure to Warn.

What are the four common Legal Claims in Products Liability?

Strict Products Liability, Negligence, Breach of Warranty, and Fraud/Misrepresentation.

What are the Elements of a Products Liability Action?

(1) A product that is unreasonably dangerous when it leaves defendant's hands, (2) a seller regularly engaged in selling/distributing the product, (3) the product reaches the user without substantial change or alteration, and (4) resulting injury or damages.

What is the holding of MacPherson v. Buick Motor Co. (1916)?

Eliminated the requirement of privity of contract in products liability actions, establishing that a manufacturer owes a duty of care to non-immediate buyers if a product is reasonably certain to place life and limb in peril when negligently made.

What is the holding of Codling v. Paglia (1973)?

Extended strict products liability and implied warranty protection to injured third-party bystanders, holding that manufacturers are liable to non-users who have even less opportunity to detect defects than purchasers.

What is the Crashworthiness Doctrine (Larsen v. General Motors Corp.)?

The rule requiring manufacturers to use reasonable care in design to eliminate unreasonable risks of foreseeable injury and minimize collision effects, recognizing that while vehicles cannot be made crash-proof, collisions are foreseeable events.

What is the Economic Loss rule distinction in Butler v. Pittway?

A rule distinguishing contract claims (seeking the economic benefit of the bargain or repair costs) from strict products liability claims, which cover personal injury and property damage resulting from defective products.

What is Failure to Warn in Products Liability?

A defect category where a product is dangerous due to inadequate or missing warnings, instructions, or safety symbols alerting users to potential risks.

What are key digital threats to Data and Privacy?

Security and data breaches (phishing, hacking, malware, DoS attacks), surveillance, biometric data collection, data mining and behavioral analysis, and artificial intelligence risks.

What is the Fourth Amendment standard for Privacy?

Constitutional protection ensuring the right of people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures by government entities.

What is the legal outcome of Olmstead v. United States (1928)?

The Supreme Court held that wiretapping telephone lines outside a private dwelling without physical trespass did not violate the Fourth Amendment because wiretaps did not involve physical search or seizure of material items.

What is the legal significance of Katz v. United States (1967)?

Overturned the Olmstead trespass doctrine by establishing that Fourth Amendment protections extend to reasonable expectations of privacy (e.g., electronic eavesdropping on a phone booth), regardless of physical penetration.

What is the Penumbra Theory in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)?

The concept that specific constitutional guarantees in the Bill of Rights (1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 9th Amendments) create penumbras and zones of personal privacy protected from government intrusion.

What is the constitutional basis of privacy in Roe v. Wade (1973)?

The Supreme Court identified the right of personal privacy within the Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty (or Ninth Amendment), broad enough to encompass personal reproductive decisions.

What is the constitutional ruling in Lawrence v. Texas (2003)?

Established that private adult consensual sexual conduct is protected under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which promises a realm of personal liberty the government cannot enter.

What is the constitutional holding in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)?

Held that the constitutional right to privacy and personal liberty protects intimate decisions concerning marriage, extending marriage equality as a fundamental personal right.

What is Personal Information (PI)?

Data elements that identify an individual, including names, addresses, phone numbers, email, DOB, IP addresses, SSNs, financial info, medical records, biometric data, and geolocation.

How do Data Privacy Laws broadly define Personal Information?

Information that directly or indirectly identifies, relates to, describes, or can be reasonably linked to a particular individual or household, including sensitive subcategories like race, biometrics, or health status.

What is Data Privacy?

An individual's right to be left alone, and to control how their personal information is collected, stored, processed, used, shared, and destroyed.

What is the ruling in United States v. Jones (2012)?

Installing a physical GPS tracking device on a vehicle and monitoring its movements constitutes a "search" under the Fourth Amendment because a vehicle is an "effect".

What is the ruling in Carpenter v. United States (2018)?

Accessing historical Cell Site Location Information (CSLI) from wireless carriers invades a person's reasonable expectation of privacy in their physical movements, generally requiring a warrant supported by probable cause.

What is Data Security?

The physical, administrative, and technical measures taken to keep data and systems safe, maintaining data confidentiality, availability, and integrity against evolving risks.

How do Data Privacy and Data Security differ?

Data Privacy focuses on individual rights regarding fair personal data processing (collection/use limitations), while Data Security protects the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of system infrastructure and valuable assets.

Why are Data Privacy and Data Security critical for businesses?

They address evolving laws, cross-border data flows, AI risks, severe compliance penalties, private lawsuits, reputational damage, and loss of business valuation.

What are the elements of Public Disclosure of Private Facts?

(1) Defendant made a public disclosure, (2) disclosed facts were private, (3) facts were not of legitimate public concern, and (4) disclosure is highly offensive to a reasonable person.

What are the elements of the Privacy Tort of Intrusion?

(1) Defendant intentionally intruded physically or otherwise, (2) upon the solitude or seclusion of another in their private affairs, (3) in a manner highly offensive to a reasonable person.

What was the key issue in In re Facebook, Inc. Consumer Privacy User Profile Litigation (2019)?

Facebook shared user profile data with Cambridge Analytica and third parties; the court ruled users adequately alleged a privacy breach despite Facebook's claim that sharing data with "friends" eliminated privacy expectations.

What is Section 5 of the FTC Act?

A federal consumer protection provision enforced by the FTC prohibiting unfair or deceptive trade practices, including failure by companies to adhere to privacy policies or secure user data.

What are primary areas of FTC Data Enforcement?

Reasonable data security measures, online privacy, deceptive advertising, mobile app permissions (geolocation/tracking), IoT devices, ransomware, and protective sensitive data practices.

What is COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act)?

A federal law protecting online personal information (names, photos, audio, geolocation, persistent IDs) collected from children under age 13, requiring verifiable parental consent and clear privacy notices.

What is the AI Safety warning raised by researcher Jeffrey Ladish?

AI agents are becoming increasingly autonomous, posing unique risks because humanity lacks concrete strategies to control advanced models capable of hacking, cheating, or ignoring instructions.

What were the allegations in the Meta Youth Mental Health Litigation?

Plaintiffs alleged Meta intentionally concealed research showing its platforms caused problematic use and mental health harms among young users while misrepresenting the risks to the public.

What was the outcome of the Landmark State Settlement with Meta (2026)?

Meta agreed to pay up to $17.1 billion in a settlement with 47 states, DC, and territories over claims its social media platforms endangered children and caused youth addiction.

What is FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act)?

A federal law protecting student educational records in federally funded schools, requiring written consent for disclosure and giving parents (or students 18+) rights to inspect and amend records.

What is HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)?

A federal law regulating the collection, use, and disclosure of Protected Health Information (PHI) held by covered entities (health plans, providers, clearinghouses) and their business associates.

What is the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA)?

A federal law prohibiting intentionally accessing a protected computer without authorization or exceeding authorized access to obtain financial, government, or commerce-related data, carrying civil and criminal penalties.