Chapter 10 - Torts

Tort

civil wrong (other than breach of contract) and courts provide a remedy in the form of damages

plaintiff sues tortfeasor

Types of Torts

intentional, negligence, strict liabilitility

intentional tort

intentional interference with one’s person, reputation, or property

must prove intent and damage

ex: assault, battery, invasion of privacy, defamation, trespass, conversion, interference with business relations

Assault

placing another person in immediate apprehension for their own safety

• scared, fearful of safety

Ex: pointing a gun at someone

Battery

unpermitted intentional contact with another person

Ex: hitting a person in the face

Invasion of Privacy

highly offensive invasion into someone’s private life

Intrustion upon Seclusion

entering someone else’s place of seclusion

Ex: taking picture’s at someone’s gym, looking through windows

Public Disclosure of Private Facts

must be true

Ex: being publicized of going to rehab, habing STDs

Defamation

intent malicious statements that injures another’s reputation

false statement about plaintiff, publish/seen/heard by public

causes plaintiff damages

Ex: libel, slander

Trespass to Land

physically invading an owner’s real property or causing an object or third party to invade it

direct and indirect

Libel

written/printed

Slander

spoken

Conversion

taking the chattel (tangible personal property) property of another with the intent to deprive them of it

tort of stealing

Interference with Business Relations

wrongful interference with the plaintiff’s contractual or business relationships

interference with existing contractual relationship or interference with prospective economic advantage

Verdict Form

fill in the blank form for the jury to fill out

contains:

• existence of valid contractual relationship between plaintiff and third party or a valid business expectancy of plaintiff

• defendant knew of the relationship or expectancy

• intentional interference by the defendant that induces a breach or temrination of the relationship or expectancy

• damage to the plaintiff

Negligence

the failure to behave with the level of care that a reasonable person would have exercised under the same circumstances resulting in injury

Elements of Negligence

ALL 4 are required

• duty of care

• breach of duty

• causation

• damages

Duty

everyone has a duty to exercise “due care”

amount of care that a reasonable person would exercise under the right circumstances

did the plaintiff owe a duty of care to the plaintiff? (if no, no liability)

No Duty to Act unless…

assumed duty by acting

peril due to defendant’s conduct

special relationship

Breach of Duty

jury has to decide whether the defendant acted as a reasonably prudent person would have under those circumstances

would a reasonable person have acted the same?

Reasonable Man

average physical characteristics, average mental ability, and average knowledge

if you act reasonably, no liability

negligence standard

Children - Reasonable Man

not held to the same standards

average knowledge of a children at that age

Causation

must prove both:

• cause in fact

• proximate cause

plaintiff must show that the defendant actual caused an injury and that he did so proximately (close in time & space), not fortuitously

But, For

But, For

But for the existnece of X, Y would not have occured

NY Central RR v. Grimstad

NY Central transported by ferry and the Grimstads were standing on the deck of a ferry when it was bumped by a tugboat

Mr. Grimstad fell off the ferry into the water, Ms. Grimstad could not find a life preserve, and Mr. Grimstad dies

Ms. Grimstad sues NY Central for no life preserves

She did not win the case because there were too many what-ifs. Could she have even thrown the life preserve far enough? Could he swim?

Cause in Fact Example

Landlord is suppsoed to maintain fire escapes but doe not. There is a fire on the top floor and Joe tries to use the fire excape but it is broken. Landlord is the reason Joe dies.

Landlord owed the tenants the right to working fire escapes.

Proximate Cause

Forseeability

For liability to attach, defendant’s act must be proximate to plaintiff’s injury

Palsgraf v. Long Island RR

Palsgarf is early to the station and is standing next to a large scale.

The earlier train begins to pull away and 2 men are running to catch it. The RR staff helps the men jump onto the train and one of the man’s packages falls into the tracks.

The package contained fireworks, which went off and causes the scale to fall onto Palsgraf

Not forseeable

Damages

must be an actual injury/damage to establish negligence

Defenses to Negligence Claims

assumption of the risk

statute of limitations

statute of repose

contributory negligence

Assumption of the Risk

plaintiff knows the risk occurs and there can be injuries, but does it anyways

person cannot sue for damages based upon injuries which arise from the activity

Expressed - Assumption of Risk

sign waiver or release

Implied - Assumption of Risk

general knowledge that risk might happen

Ex: getting hit by a foul ball at a braves game

Statute of Limitations and Statute of Repose

a deadline on how long a plaintiff can file a lawsuit

Statute of Limitation

declares how long a plaintiff has time to file a lawsuit

date of injury, date it was discovered

Statute of Repose

time limitation on how long you have to sue, before the company is no longer liable

not triggered by date of injury/accident

time can run out before plaintiff has been injured

Ex: airbags not going off, but car is 25 years old, so you cannot sue the manufacturer

Contributory Negligence

actions of plaintiff that contributed to his injury

depends on state laws

a defense to negligence claim

describes how much money the plaintiff can recover

Doctrine of Contributory Negligence

plaintiff is barred from recovering if they acted negligently and contributed to the accident at ALL

can’t receive any money if contributed to accident 1% or more

Comparative Negligence - Pure

allows a plaintiff to recover damages from the defendant minus their percentage of responsibility regardless of how much at fault the plaintiff is

Ex: if jury awards $100k and finds the plaintiff to be 75% at fault, plaintiff only gets $25k

Comparative Negligence - Partial (Modified)

only allows recovery if plaintiff is less or equally at fault as the defendant

Ex: if jury awards $100k and finds plaintiff to be 75% at fault, plaintiff gets nothing

Strict Liability Torts

imposes legal responsibility for damages/injuries even if the defendant did not act intentionally or unreasonable/negligently

Types of Strict Liability Tort Cases

animal bites, product liability, abnormally dangerous activities, food born illnesses

Animal Bites

applies strict liability to pets that bite/attack

based on the idea that animals have no conscience and pet owners have a duty to restrain them from harm

Georgia One Bite Rule

dog owners can be held responsible for their biting dog if:

owner knew or should have known about their vicious dog

one free bite, then owner should know they are a biter

Product Liability Types

manufacturing defects, design defects, failure to warn

Manufacturring Defects

departure from the products design during manufacturing

(mistake during manufacturing)

Design Defect

product designed is defective

Failure to Warn

manufacture failed to warn of forseeable risks of using product

lawsuit can form from lack of warning

also can be a defense, we warned you about it so you cannot sue

Abnormally Dangerous Conditions

activities considered inherently dangerous that involve serious potential harm, a high degree of risk that cannot be adequately protected against by using reasonable care, and are not commonly performed in the community or under the circumstances

Ex: carrying fireworks, wild animals as pets

Food Born Illnesses

we want our food supply to be safe to eat

Compensatory Damages

Actual damages to make the plaintiff whole again

Punitive (Exemplary) Damages

damages to punish or deter the defendant or others from committing tort

Mitigation of Damages

plaintiff has duty to mitigate or reduce their damages

applies to personal injuries (must follow doctors orders and not let injury get worse)

Ex: if my hosue catches on fire, I should not let it just burn to the ground, and I shoukd still attempt to put the fire out