Intentional Torts BLAW 301

Business Law 301

Torts

Definition of Tort

  • A tort is an act or omission that results in injury or harm to another person and constitutes a civil wrong that courts can impose liability for.

    • It is essential to note that a tort is a civil wrong distinct from a breach of contract.

Terminology

  • Tortfeasor: A person who commits a tort.

  • Tortious Conduct: Behavior that constitutes a tort.

Purpose of Tort Law

  • The aims of tort law include:

    • Providing relief to injured parties for harms caused by others.

    • Imposing liability on parties responsible for the harm.

    • Deter others from committing harmful acts.

Boundaries of Tort Law

  • The boundaries are defined by common law and legislation, rather than by private contracts.

  • Judges possess considerable discretion to:

    • Determine which actions qualify as torts.

    • Decide what defenses are available.

    • Establish the appropriate measure of damages.

Remedies for Torts

  • Since torts are civil wrongs, the law allows injured parties to recover damages for their losses.

    • Compensatory Damages: The most common remedy sought by injured parties.

    • Injunctive Relief: May be available under certain circumstances.

    • Punitive Damages: Aimed to punish or deter tortious conduct may also be available.

Categories of Torts

  • Torts can be categorized into:

    • Intentional Torts

    • Negligence

    • Strict Liability

Detailed Examination of Categories of Torts

Intentional Torts

  • An intentional tort occurs when the tortfeasor intended to perform an action that resulted in harm to another person.

    • Intent in this context refers to:

    • The desire to bring about certain results.

    • Knowledge that certain results are substantially certain to occur from the action.

Battery

  • Definition: Battery is an intentional harmful or offensive touching of another person without justification or excuse.

Elements of Battery

  1. Intentional:

    • Requires an affirmative, voluntary act.

    • Acts that are involuntary or unconscious do not qualify.

    • The defendant must act with the purpose of causing harmful or offensive touching.

    • Alternatively, the defendant may act knowing that harmful or offensive touching is substantially certain to occur.

  2. Harmful or Offensive Touching of Another:

    • Uses an objective standard: would a reasonable person find the touching harmful or offensive?

      • Harmful: Causes pain or bodily injury.

      • Offensive: Detracts from a reasonable sense of dignity.

  3. Without Justification or Excuse:

    • If a person consents to the touching, there is no battery (e.g., a boxer in a match).

    • Justified actions may include reasonable restraint by merchants against suspected shoplifters until police arrive.

Assault

  • Definition: Assault is the intentional attempt or threat to cause harmful or offensive contact with another person, resulting in the apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive contact.

Elements of Assault

  1. Intentional Attempt or Threat:

    • If the attempt or threat results in actual contact, it is classified as battery.

    • The transferred intent can satisfy the intent requirement.

  2. Apprehension of Imminent Harmful or Offensive Contact:

    • The threat must be of an immediate harm, not a future harm.

    • Apprehension must be objectively reasonable and specific to the plaintiff, not to a third party.

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (IIED)

  • Definition: IIED is the intentional or reckless infliction of severe mental and emotional distress through extreme and outrageous conduct.

Elements of IIED

  1. Intentional/Reckless Infliction:

    • The defendant must intentionally engage in conduct or recklessly disregard the consequences.

  2. Severe Mental and Emotional Distress:

    • No bodily harm is required to substantiate the claim.

    • For example, in Kansas, the mental distress must be so severe that no reasonable person should be expected to endure it under the circumstances.

  3. Extreme and Outrageous Conduct:

    • The conduct must be of an extreme nature, described by one Kansas court as “utterly atrocious or intolerable in civilized society.”

False Imprisonment

  • Definition: False imprisonment involves the intentional restraint of another person without legal justification.

Key Elements of False Imprisonment

  1. Intentional Restraint/Confinement:

    • Actions taken must be intended for confinement or must have a substantial certainty of causing confinement.

    • Transferred intent can fulfill this requirement.

    • Confinement can be:

      • Physical confinement (actual restriction of movement)

      • Constructive confinement (e.g., withholding a person's belongings)

      • Mental confinement (e.g., instilling fear of harm).

  2. No Legal Justification:

    • Generally, store owners may detain shoplifters within certain limits, known as a limited privilege, but other justifications are usually rejected.

Trespass to Land

  • Definition: Trespass to land refers to the unlawful intentional entry onto another person's land without permission.

Intent Required for Trespass to Land

  • Intent can be established by:

    • Purposefully entering the land.

    • Acting with knowledge that entry will occur.

  • The required intent is the intention to enter the property itself, not necessarily the intent to commit a wrongful act.

Possible Trespass Scenarios

  • Examples include:

    • Physically entering the plaintiff's land.

    • Causing another to physically enter the land.

    • Remaining on the land after the right to remain has expired.

    • Failing to remove something one is obligated to remove.

    • Invading the airspace above or below the land without permission.

Conversion

  • Definition: Conversion is the wrongful exercise of dominion and control over the personal property of another, akin to theft.

Tortious Interference with Contract

  • A person or entity that is not a party to a contract may be held liable for intentionally inducing a breach of that contract, provided certain elements are satisfied.

Elements of Tortious Interference with Contract

  1. Existence of Contract.

  2. Defendant’s Knowledge of the Contract.

  3. Defendant’s Intentional Procurement of its Breach.

  4. Absence of Justification: Courts consider various factors to assess justification.

  5. Damages: The plaintiff must demonstrate harm arising from the breach.