legal environment of business chapter 6

torts

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

compensatory damages

a money award equivalent to the actual value of injuries or damages sustained by the aggrieved party

special damages

in a tort case, an amount awarded to compensate the plaintiff for quantifiable monetary losses, such as medical expenses, property damage, & lost wages & benefits (now & in the future

general damages

in a tort case, an amount awarded to compensate individuals for the nonmonetary aspects of the harm suffered, such as pain & suffering, not available to companies

punitive damages

money damages that may be awarded to a plaintiff to punish the defendant & deter future similar conduct

intentional tort

a wrongful act knowingly committed

tortfeasor

one who commits a tort

transferred intent

a legal principle under which a person who intends to harm one individual but unintentionally harms a different individual, can be liable to the 2nd victim for an intentional tort

battery

the unprivileges, intentional touching of another

assault

any word or action intended to make another person fearful of immediate physical harm, a reasonable believable threat

defamation

any published or publicaly spoken false statement that causes injury to anothers good name, reputation, or character

actionable

capable of serving as the basis of a lawsuit

libel

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

slander

defamation in oral form

privilege

in tort law, the ability to act contrary to another persons right without that persons having legal redress for such acts. privilege may be raised as a defense to defamation

public figures

an individual in the public limelight. public figures include government officials & politicians, movie stars, well known businesspersons, & generally anybody who becomes known to the public because of his or her position or activites

actual malice

a condition that exists when a person makes a statement with either knowledge of its falsity or reckless disregard for the truth. in a defamation suit, a statement made about a public figure normally must be made with actual malice for liability to be incurred

puffery

a salespersons exaggerated claims concerning the quality of goods offered for sale. such claims involve opinions rather than facts & are not considered to be legally binding promises or warranties

fraudulent misrepresentation (fraud)

any misrepresentation, either by misstatement or by omission of a material fact, knowlingly made with the intention of deceiving another & on which a reasonable person would & does rely to his or her detriment

trespass to land

the entry onto, above, or below the surface of land owned by another without the owners permission or legal authorization

licensee

one who receives a license to use, or enter onto, anothers property

trespass to personal property

the unlawful taking or harming or anothers personal property, interference with anothers right to the exclusive possession of his or her personal property

conversion

the wrongful taking, using, or retaining possesssion of personal property that belongs to another

disparagement of property

an economically injurious false statement made about anothers product or property. a general term for torts that are more specifically referred to as slander of quality or slander of title

trade libel

the publication of false information about anothers product, alleging that is not what its seller claims, also referred to as slander of quality

slander of quality

the publication of false information about anothers product, alleging that it is not what its seller claims, also called trade libel

slander of title

the publication of a statement that falsely denies or casts doubt on anothers legal ownership property, causing financial loss to that propertys owner

negligence

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

duty of care

the duty of all persons, as established by tort law, to exercise a reasonable amount of care in their dealings with others. failure to exercise due care, which is normally determined by the “reasonable person standard” constitutes the tort of negligence

reasonable person standard

the standard of behavior expected of a hypothetical “reasonable person” the standard against which negliegence is measured & that must be observed to avoid liability for negliegence

business invitees

those people, such as customers or clients, who are invited onto business premises by the owner of those premises for business purposes

causation in fact

ac act or omission without “but for” which an event would not have occurred

proximate cause

legal cause, exists when the connection between ac act & an injury is strong enough to justify imposing liability

malpractice

professional misconduct or the failure to exercise the requisite of skill as a professional. negligence the failure to exercise due care on the part of a professional, such a physician or an attorney is commonly referred to as malpractice

good samaritan statutes

a state statute that provides that persons whoi rescue or provide emergency services to others in peril-unless they do so recklessly, thus further harm-cant be sued for negliegence

dram shop acts

a state statute that imposes liability on the owners of bars & taverns as well as those who serve alcoholic drinks to the public, for injuries resoluting from accidents caused by intoxicated persons who the sellers or servers of alcoholic drinks contributed to the intoxication

assumption of risk

a defense against negligence that can be used when the plaintiff was aware of a danger & voluntarily assumed the risk of injury from that danger

contributory negligence

a theory in tort law under which a complaining partys own negligence contributed to or caused his or her injuries. contributory negligence is an absolute bar to recovery in a minority of jurisdictions

supersending cause

an intervening force or event that breaks the connection between a wrongful act & an injury to another, in negligence law, a defense to liability

comparative negligence

a theory in tort law under which the liability for injuries resulting from negligent acts is shared by all parties who were negligent (including the injured party) on the basis of each persons proportionate negligence