Cases Flashcards
Battery - Intent to Contact
Kid put firecracker in other kid’s shoe but didn’t intend or foresee the harm
Mentally insane person killed father-in-law for irrational suspicion
Battery - Offensive Contact
Radio host blew cigar smoke into face of guest against indoor public smoking
Co-worker buckled another co-worker’s knee from behind, but bad injury resulted
Dementia patient attacked and punched nurse
Battery - Harmful Contact
Defendant intended to pistol whip plaintiff but instead shot him in the stomach
Correctional officer struck inmate with a branch but caused no harm
Assault
Man invited young girl to his trailer, but instead her whole family showed up, dad with a gun
Billboard brothers threatened future violence of activist over the telephone
Transfer of Intent Among People and Between Torts
Teen defending house, shot toward a car of teens, ricocheted and struck neighbor
Consent as a Defense to Assault and Battery
Boy Scout participated in a paper clip game and got hit in the eye before withdraw
Estranged husband had sex with wife, but didn’t reveal that he had an STD
Boy severely harmed in a fist fight that he voluntarily participated in and could leave
Justifying Use of Deadly Force
Teen shot aggressive teen after aggressive teen repeatedly failed to back down
Father-in-law shot his son-in-law in the back as he was exiting house
Proportionality Principle
Dairy farmer, concerned about timeclock vandalism, broom-whips teen
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress - Outrageousness
Dealership employees tricked car buyer to return car and mocked her
Wife cheated on husband with husband’s friend, but husband didn’t know
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress - Severe Emotional Distress
Mom is distressed that her son’s cemetery is not maintained, but is she?
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress - Recklessness as Intent
Swimming pool operator videotaped woman undressing in locker room
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress - Transferred Intent of Distress
Newspaper reporter took pictures of woman’s dead son and quoted her
Trespass
Defendants trespassed while building a casino, despite best efforts to avoid it
Plaintiff and now deceased husband found trespassing neighbors digging a trench
Public and Private Necessity for Trespass
Steamship owner docked to company’s dock to avoid storm, caused dock damage
To avoid flood damages, state employees diverted water and flooded farmland
Reasonable Person Standards
Hayrick builder did a bad job and burned down neighbor’s farm
Cargo company employee accidentally set off crate of nitroglycerine
Hand Formula
Woman’s hotel room sliding door was unknowingly unlocked, nearly raped
Range of the Reasonable Person Standard
Plaintiff offered help working on a car at a mechanic’s shop and ended up getting blown up
Driver avoided a collision by swerving into oncoming traffic and causing collision
Experienced cement truck driver passes pickup on icy interstate and causes collision
Reasonable Minors
Teenager driving snowmobile wrecked and injured another teen
Kid went to neighbors, lit gasoline containers on fire, so parents sued neighbors
Reasonable Person - Physical and Mental Disabilities
Legally blind man with no dog or stick walking up a ramp relies on bushes as a railing
CNA kicked by Alzheimer’s nursing home resident while CNA was on the job
Professional Standard
Blood bank program didn’t test blood for HIV, and neither did any other blood bank
Rural delivery doctor injured infant
Nurses dropped hospitalized man twice during his stay
Owners and Occupiers of Land - Trespassers
Man was trespassing on defendant’s land to steel copper, got electrocuted
Boy caught eel, tried to cook on power company substation, burned
Owners and Occupiers of Land - Licensees/Invitees
Daughter’s boyfriend spent lots of time there, offered to cut down tree, got hurt
Business acquaintance trips on stick on porch picking up defendant for car ride
Negligence per se
Defendant hit plaintiff’s buggy without lights in middle of the night rounding curve
Pickup driver died after colliding with stalled gang truck with no warning devices
Two minors trespassed into pole storage, one dropped a cigarette and started fire
Builder installed decks against code, new owner who didn’t know, tenant injured
Industry Custom
Two tugboats not equipped with radios to receive weather forecasts, barges sank
High school baseball player injured in unprotected portion of visitor’s dugout
Customer injured in slip and fall and alleged violation of store’s procedures manual
Res Ipsa Loquitur
Flour barrel fell on plaintiff, but he doesn’t know how it happened
Company’s loading dock malfunctioned and caused injury to plaintiff truck driver
Busted elevator caused uneven floor and patron injury
But-for Test (actual causation, cause-in-fact)
Intoxicated man fell over bridge railing late at night while walking home from bar
Woman pulled out in front of semi and was broadsided, semi was speeding
Concerted Action
Passenger asked for ride home from friend, didn’t know how drunk he was, accident/death
Vicarious Liability - Respondeat Superior and Vehicle Owners
Man driving own truck for employer hauling hay lost trailer, caused injury
Pedestrian blinded in eye by egg thrown from vehicle driven by nonowner
Alternative Liability
Two hunters negligently fired their guns in the direction of a third, injuring his eye
Man was injured by a vehicle driven into her as a proximate cause of one of two persons
Market Share Liability
Plaintiffs’ mothers took drugs during pregnancy that now have impact
Woman’s husband died from asbestos exposure in airplane repair work
Lost Chance of Recovery or Increased Risk of Eventual Harm
Man’s doctor misdiagnosed cancer for three years until it was too late to effectively treat
Doctor was negligent and caused plaintiff to have an 8-16% increased risk of future obstruction
Duty Factors - Foreseeability
Woman injured by large scale falling over caused by an exploding package across the platform
Child conceived premature with complications years after mother was in car accident
Duty Factors - Special Relationships
Plaintiff was harmed by a falling tree while participating in an outdoor basketball tournament
Man drank too much at a party and wrecked his car into a motorcycle, injuring motorcyclist
Husband and wife were injured in a motorcycle accident, struck by texting defendant
Duty to Rescue or Protect
Man had “jackpot” heart attack at casino, nurse didn’t bring intubation tube
Man and state trooper help wrecked Suzuki, trooper leaves, man hit, blames Suzuki
Man left keys in fuel truck, drunk man stole it and cop was injured in the pursuit
Protecting Third Parties
Psychologist tries to warn patient’s ex-girlfriend not to visit him, because he’ll kill her
Physician’s patient likely had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, but he didn’t warn patient’s wife
Foreseeability
Student killed when a student jump-started pickup, lost control, pinned her against wall, wall fell
Eggshell plaintiff was a struck pedestrian who already had quite a bit of medical conditions
Ship owner’s ship caused chain reaction down river, drawbridge not raised in time, damaged
Proximate Cause - Scope of Liability
Oil change collection tank built by father-in-law exploded, injuring an oil change employee
Disassembled trampoline left on ground blows onto road in storm and causes pastor car crash
Intervening and Superseding Forces
Man was wearing large George Bush head in Las Vegas, got shoved and injured
Former cop left keys in car, thief stole car, led police on chase, caused car crash
Roofers used smaller nails to secure the platform they were working on, it collapsed
Intervening Force vs. Superseding Force
Plaintiff slipped and fell, 18 months later got back surgery, and surgeon caused infection
Bad knee surgeries from multiple doctors result in infection and eventual amputation
Assumption of Risk (Primary and Express)
Ski employee jumped crest and hit another skier below the crest, causing injury
Parents objected to form that released school of duty to their children
Strict Liability - Domestic and Wild Animals
Babysitter was “injured” by pet cat in basement
Semi hit donkey in highway and damaged semi
Strict Liability - Selected Dangerous Activities
Defendant’s dam burst, causing flood of plaintiff’s coal mines
Plaintiff injured when a firework fired horizontally into them from defendant’s show
