Business Law Exam 2

Compensatory damages

Money to compensate for a loss

Special damages

Monetary damages

General damages

Non Monetary damages (Pain and suffering)

Punitive damages

Monetary damages that may be awarded to a plaintiff to punish the defendant and deter similar conduct in the future.

General deterrent

deter rest of population from doing it 

Specific deterrent

deter specific person from doing it again

4 types of torts

Intentional torts, Negligence, Strict liability, Product liability

How do you establish the intentional torts?

• Don't have to have the specific intent that caused the harm, but if you had intent to do the act that made the situation occur, you are responsible 

  • Drunk driving 

Intentional torts

You meant to do the act (even if not the harm).

Negligence

Carelessness that causes harm.

Strict liability

You’re liable even if you didn’t mean it and weren’t careless.

Product liability

Manufacturer/seller is responsible for defective or harmful products.

Battery

An unexcused and harmful or offensive physical contact intentionally performed

Assault

Any intentional and unexcused threat of immediate harmful or offensive contact—words or acts that create a reasonably believable threat

False imprisonment

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

Intentional infliction of emotional distress

Can be defined as an extreme and outrageous act, intentionally committed, that results in severe emotional distress to another

Defamation

Character involves wrongfully hurting a person’s good reputation. The law has imposed a general duty on all persons to refrain from making false, defamatory statements of fact about others

Libel

• written defamation - writes something false about you

  • Drives more damages because it is permanent 

  • If recording was made, it may be libel, not slander 

Slander

• verbal defamation - says something false about you 

  • Less damages, less sense of permanence 

To establish defamation 

• The defendant made a false statement of fact

• The statement was understood as being about the plaintiff and tended to harm the plaintiff’s reputation 

• The statement was published to as least one person other than the plaintiff

• If the plaintiff is a public figure, she or he must prove actual malice 

Statement of fact requirement

all statements can be statements of fact or statements of opinion

Publication requirement

 third party has to hear or read what was said

Privileged communications

Cannot be found libel of defamation in certain venues such as a courtroom

Public Figures

Can fact check them and that is what comes with the job 

Actual malice

a statement must be made with either knowledge of its falsity or reckless disregard of the truth 

Trespass to Land

Very easy to prove someone did this BUT hard to prove damages 

Trespass to Personal Property

• Deprived you of your use and enjoyment for some period of time without permission 

  • Conversion - damaged your property & used it 

Negligence Elements

Duty, Breach, Causation, Damages

Strict Liability

• liability without fault 

  • Examples:

    • Keeping dangerous animals (like lions, snakes, etc.)

    • Using explosives or hazardous chemicals

    • Running a nuclear power plant

Product liability

liability of manufacturers and sellers for harmful or defective products

Agency

A relationship between two parties in which one party (the agent) agrees to represent or act for the other (the principal)