Legal Environment of Business: Chapter 6 Tort Law

Flashcards covering key definitions and concepts from Chapter 6: Tort Law.

Tort

A civil wrong not arising from a breach of contract; a breach of a legal duty that proximately causes harm or injury to another.

Wrongs

One of the two basic notions serving as the foundation of tort law, designed to compensate those who have suffered a loss or injury due to another person's wrongful act.

Remedy

In a tort action, the monetary damages or other relief sought by a party to obtain compensation for harm suffered.

Damages

A monetary award sought as a remedy for a breach of contract or a tortious act.

Damage

Harm or injury to persons or property, which is distinct from monetary damages.

Compensatory Damages

A money award equivalent to the actual value of injuries or damage sustained by the aggrieved party.

Special Damages

An amount awarded to compensate the plaintiff for quantifiable monetary losses, such as medical expenses, property damage, and lost wages and benefits.

General Damages

An amount awarded to compensate individuals for nonmonetary aspects of harm suffered, such as pain and suffering.

Punitive Damages

Money damages awarded to a plaintiff to punish the defendant and deter future similar conduct.

Gross Negligence

An intentional failure to perform a manifest duty in reckless disregard of the consequences of such a failure for the life or property of another.

Legislative Caps on Damages

State statutory limits placed on the amount of damages—both punitive and general—that can be awarded, such as caps ranging from $250,000 to $750,000 on noneconomic general damages.

Intentional Torts

A category of torts resulting from the intentional violation of person or property (fault plus intent).

Unintentional Torts

Torts involving negligence that result from the breach of a duty to act reasonably (fault without intent).

Tortfeasor

One who commits a tort.

Intent

A legal state of mind meaning a person intended the consequences of his or her act or knew with substantial certainty that specific consequences would result.

Transferred Intent

A legal principle under which a person who intends to harm one individual, but unintentionally harms a different individual, may be liable to the second victim for an intentional tort.

Assault

Any word or action intended to make another person fearful of immediate physical harm; a reasonably believable threat.

Battery

The unprivileged, intentional touching of another that is either harmful or merely offensive.

False Imprisonment

The intentional confinement or restraint of another person's activities without justification.

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress

An intentional act amounting to extreme and outrageous conduct resulting in severe emotional distress to another.

Extreme and Outrageous Conduct

Conduct so severe that it exceeds the bounds of decency accepted by society.

Defamation

Any published or publicly spoken false statement that causes injury to another's good name, reputation, or character.

Libel

Defamation in writing or in some other form (such as a digital recording) having the quality of permanence.

Slander

Defamation in oral form.

Publication

In defamation, the communication of false statements (either intentionally or accidentally) to at least one person other than the defamed party.

Public Figure

An individual who becomes known to the public because of his or her position or activities, including government officials, politicians, movie stars, and well-known businesspersons.

Actual Malice

A condition that exists when a person makes a statement with either knowledge of its falsity or reckless disregard for the truth.

Slander Per Se

A declaration so inherently harmful that it is actionable with no proof of special damages required, such as stating someone has a loathsome disease or committed a serious crime.

Privilege

The legal ability to act contrary to another person's right without that person having legal redress for such acts.

Absolute Privilege

A defense to defamation granted only in judicial proceedings and certain government proceedings, protecting statements made by attorneys and judges during trial.

Qualified Privilege

A defense to defamation where statements made in good faith are protected if publication is limited to those with a legitimate interest, such as written employee evaluations.

Invasion of Privacy

A tort safeguarding a person's right to solitude and freedom from prying public eyes regarding their private life and affairs.

Intrusion into Seclusion

An invasion of privacy cause of action involving unauthorized invasion of someone's private affairs or space, such as searching a laptop without authorization.

False Light

An invasion of privacy tort involving writing or publishing material that attributes to a person ideas and opinions not actually held by that person.

Public Disclosure of Private Facts

An invasion of privacy tort that occurs when a person publicly discloses private facts about an individual that an ordinary person would find objectionable.

Appropriation of Identity

The unauthorized use of a person's name, picture, or likeness for commercial purposes.

Fraudulent Misrepresentation

Any misrepresentation, either by misstatement or omission of a material fact, knowingly made with the intention of deceiving another and reasonably relied upon to their detriment.

Puffery

A salesperson's exaggerated claims concerning the quality of goods offered for sale, involving opinions rather than statements of fact.

Superior Knowledge Exception

A rule where reliance on a statement of opinion may constitute fraudulent misrepresentation if the individual making the statement possesses specialized expert knowledge.

Malicious Prosecution

A tort committed when a party initiates a lawsuit out of malice and without a legitimate legal reason, and ultimately loses the suit.

Abuse of Process

The improper use of a legal process against another person to accomplish a purpose for which the process was not designed.

Real Property

Land and things permanently attached to the land, such as a house.

Personal Property

All property items other than real property, including cash, securities, and moveable items.

Trespass to Land

The entry onto, above, or below the surface of land owned by another without the owner's permission or legal authorization.

Attractive Nuisance Doctrine

A legal rule under which a landowner may be held liable for injuries to young children who are attracted to the property by an object, such as a swimming pool.

Licensee

A person who has a revocable right or privilege to come onto another person's land, such as an electric meter reader.

Trespass to Personal Property

The unlawful taking, harming, or interference with another's right to exclusive possession of their personal property.

Conversion

The wrongful taking, using, or retaining possession of personal property that belongs to another.

Disparagement of Property

An economically injurious false statement made about another's product or property; includes slander of quality and slander of title.

Slander of Quality

The publication of false information about another's product, alleging that it is not what its seller claims (also known as trade libel).

Slander of Title

The publication of a statement that falsely denies or casts doubt on another's legal ownership of property, causing financial loss to the owner.

Business Torts

Wrongful interference with another's business rights, categorized into contractual or business relationship interference.

Predatory Behavior

Business actions undertaken with the specific intention of unlawfully driving competitors completely out of the market.

Bona Fide Competitive Behavior

Permissible business practices, such as marketing and advertising, that serve as a defense against claims of wrongful interference.

Negligence

The failure to exercise the standard of care that a reasonable person would exercise in similar circumstances.

Duty of Care

The obligation imposed by tort law on all persons to exercise a reasonable amount of care in their dealings with others.

Reasonable Person Standard

The standard of behavior expected of a hypothetical ordinarily prudent person in society under similar circumstances.

Business Invitees

People, such as customers or clients, who are invited onto business premises by the owner for business purposes.

Malpractice

Professional misconduct or the failure to exercise the requisite degree of skill as a professional.

Causation in Fact

An act or omission without ('but for') which an event would not have occurred.

Proximate Cause

Legal cause; exists when the connection between an act and an injury is strong enough to justify imposing legal liability.

Foreseeability

A concept linked to proximate cause determining that liability is only imposed if a defendant's actions created a predictable risk of injury.

Good Samaritan Statutes

State statutes providing that persons who rescue or provide emergency services to others in peril may not be held liable for negligence.

Dram Shop Acts

State statutes imposing liability on bar owners and alcohol servers for injuries caused by intoxicated patrons when servers contributed to the intoxication.

Social Host Liability

Legal responsibility imposed on homeowners hosting parties where alcohol is served for subsequent accidents caused by intoxicated guests.

Assumption of Risk

A defense against negligence used when a plaintiff was aware of a danger and voluntarily assumed the risk of injury from that danger.

Superseding Cause

An intervening force or event that breaks the connection between a wrongful act and an injury, relieving the defendant of liability.

Comparative Negligence

A tort rule under which liability for injuries is shared by all negligent parties based on each person's proportionate degree of fault.

50 Percent Rule

A comparative negligence statutory rule preventing a plaintiff from recovering any damages if he or she was more than $50$ percent at fault.

Contributory Negligence

A minority tort doctrine under which any negligence by the plaintiff that contributed to their injury serves as an absolute bar to recovery.