Battery, Assault, False Imprisonment, IIED

Question 1

Garratt v. Dailey

Chair

Answer 1

• The defendant must intend to make contact AND have substantial certainty that the contact will cause harm.
• The contact can be indirect and still be considered battery.

Question 2

McGuire v. Almy

Insane Lady

Answer 2

Legal insanity is not a defense against battery.

Question 3

Wallace v. Rosen

Fire Alarm

Answer 3

Not all unwanted touching constitutes battery. Battery requires that the unwanted touching be done in a “rude, insolent or angry manner”.

Question 4

Wagner v. State

Grabbing Hair

Answer 4

• To commit a battery, the defendant only needs to intend to contact, not necessarily to cause harm.
• Legal insanity is not a defense for battery.

Question 5

Talmage v. Smith

Threw Stick

Answer 5

A defendant is liable for the damages that result from an illegal action, regardless of whether the plaintiff was the intended target or not

Question 6

Fisher v. Carrousel

Plate

Answer 6

• An offensive contact, when done in anger, constitutes battery regardless of whether physical injury is caused.
• Offensive contact extends to the objects associated with the plaintiff, such as those items they are holding, and not necessarily direct physical contact with the plaintiff.

Question 7

I de S et ux. v. W de S

Axe in Tavern

Answer 7

• Established assault as a tort.
• Apprehension of harm is harm in and of itself.

Question 8

Western Union Telegraph Co. v. Hill

Sexual Harassment

Answer 8

It is not necessary that the contact be actually physically possible, only that the plaintiff have a “well-founded fear of an imminent battery” and the defendant has an apparent ability to follow through on the battery.

Question 9

Big Town Nursing Home, Inc. v. Newman

Old Man

Answer 9

• Restraining someone against their will without legal justification is false imprisonment.
• A defendant can be held for actual and punitive damages for false imprisonment.

Question 10

Parvi v. City of Kingston

Drunk on the Highway

Answer 10

The plaintiff must be conscious of the confinement for it to be considered false imprisonment. However, ‘conscious’ can mean conscious at the time of the imprisonment without any current recollection.

Question 11

Hardy v. LaBelle’s Distributing Co.

Interrogation by Employer

Answer 11

There must be evidence that the plaintiff was confined against their will to qualify as false imprisonment.

Question 12

Whittaker v. Sandford

Trapped on a Boat

Answer 12

Being denied access to freedom is considered physical restraint even if the plaintiff is not be physically held.

Question 13

Enright v. Groves

Mistaken Arrest

Answer 13

A police officer commits false imprisonment if they arrest someone for something which is not a crime, even if they thought it was a crime.

Question 14

State Rubbish Collectors Association v. Siliznoff

Trash Mafia

Answer 14

The defendant may be held liable for mental distress caused by an action which did not amount to assault.

Question 15

Taylor v. Vallelunga

Father’s Beating

Answer 15

The defendant must have intended to inflict emotional distress or have substantial certainty that the distress will occur to be held liable for IIED.

Question 16

Slocum v. Food Fair Stores of Florida

Rude Employee

Answer 16

• Mere insults and vulgarities do not amount to IIED.
• Severe emotional distress is an objective standard of what a reasonable person would experience.

Question 17

Harris v. Jones

Stutter

Answer 17

The plaintiff’s distress must be extremely severe in order to recover for IIED.

Question 18

Snyder v. Phelps

Westboro Baptist Church

Answer 18

The defendant cannot be held liable for IIED if the speech is constitutionally protected.

Question 19

Battery

Answer 19

Intentionally harmful or offensive physical contact with another person.
Elements of battery:
1. Intend to contact the plaintiff and
2. That contact must be objectively harmful OR offensive
3. Harmful contact results

Question 20

Assault

Answer 20

Apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive contact.
Elements:
1. Defendant must intend to cause apprehension
2. It must be plausible that the contact will occur.

Question 21

False Imprisonment

Answer 21

Direct known restraint of the physical liberty of a person, absent adequate justification
Elements:
1. Defendant intended to confine the plaintiff
2. Plaintiff was conscious of the confinement
3. Plaintiff did not consent to the confinement
4. Defendant had no authority to confine the plaintiff.

Question 22

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress

Answer 22

Outrageous behavior that is intentional or reckless that is intended to cause severe emotional distress
Elements of IIED:
1. Defendant’s conduct was intentional or reckless
2. Defendant’s conduct was extreme or outrageous
3. Defendant caused the plaintiff emotional distress
4. Emotional distress was severe