Chapter 5 - Intentional Torts and Business Torts Flashcards
Define Tort
A violation of a duty imposed by civil law
Define Libel
Written Defamation
Define Negligence
A tort that concerns harm that arises by accident.
Define Tortious Interference with a Contract
Occurs when a defendant deliberately harms a contractual relationship between two other parties
Define Fraud
Injuring someone by deliberate deception
Who is responsible to begin a tort?
The injured party
What can a person be declared at the end of a criminal case?
Guilty or Not Guilty
What can a person be declared at the end of a civil case?
Liable or not liable
Define Intentional Tort
Torts that involve harm caused by deliberate action.
Define Slander
Oral Defamation
Define Element
A fact that a plaintiff must prove to win a lawsuit
What are the four elements that must be proven to win a defamation case?
Defamatory Statement, Falseness, Communicated, and Injury
Define Defamatory Statement
This is a statement likely to harm another person’s reputation.
Define Falseness
The statement must be false.
Define Communicated
The statement must be communicated to at least one other person other than the plaintiff.
Define Injury (as it relates to slander cases)
In many slander cases, the plaintiff generally must show some injury. But in slander cases that involve false statements about sexual behavior, crimes, contagious diseases, and professional abilities, the law is willing to assume injury without requiring the plaintiff to prove it. Lies in these four categories amount to slander per se.
Define Slander Per Se.
A type of statement that are, by their nature, presumed to damage a person’s reputation, so therefore not needing to be proved and monetary damages are presumed
Which kind of defamation cases are treated like cases of slander per se?
Libel cases are treated like cases of slander per se, and courts award damages without proof of injury.
What is a valid defense in a defamation suit against falseness?
Opinion - They cannot be proven true or false.
Who receives less protection from defamation?
Government officials and other types of public figures.
What is the landmark case regarding defamation against public figures?
New York Times v. Sullivan - Police cheif of Birmingham Alabama claimed that the Times falsely accused him of racial violence on his job. He lost because he could not prove that the Times had acted with actual malice.
Due to the landmark case, what additional item does a public figure need to prove to win a defamation suit?
Actual Malice
Define Actual Malice
Means that the defendant in a defamation suit knew his or her statement was false and acted with reckless disregard of the truth.
Define False Imprisonment. When can a store hold someone?
The intentional restraint of a another person without reasonable cause or consent
Generally, a store may detain a customer or worker for alleged shoplifting provided there is a reasonable basis for the suspicion and detention is done reasonably.
Define Battery
A harmful or offensive bodily contact
Define Assault
An action that causes another person to fear imminent battery
Define Infliction of Emotional Distress
Extreme and outrageous conduct that causes serious emotional harm.
A tort. It can be the intentional infliction of emotional distress, meaning that the defendant behaved outrageously and deliberately caused the plaintiff severe psychological injury, or it can be the negligent infliction of emotional distress, meaning that the defendant’s conduct violated the rules of negligence.
What is the Landmark case dealing with Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress?
Jane Doe & Nancy Roe v. Lynn Mills - An antiabortion protester got records of these two women who were to have abortions and publicly protested using their names. The ladies won.
Define Compensatory Damages
Damages intended to restore the plaintiff to the position he was in before the defendant’s conduct caused injury
Damages that flow directly from the contract.
Define Single Recovery Principal
Requires a court to settle a legal case once and for all, by awarding a lump sum for past and future expenses.
How are damages calculated?
- A plaintiff receives money for medical expenses. If a doctor testifies he will need more treatment in the future they try to guess how much it will cost and award those as well.
- 2nd, the defendants are libel for lost wages, past and future.
- 3rd, a plaintiff is paid for pain and suffering.
Define Punitive Damages
Punish the defendant for conduct that is extreme and outrageous.
What is the idea behind punitive damages?
That a certain behavior is so unacceptable that society must make an example of it.
What are the three ‘guideposts’ a court must consider to ensure the punitive damages are reasonable.
- The reprehensibility of the defendant’s conduct
- The ratio between harm suffered and the award. Generally, the punitive award should not be more than 9 times the compensatory award. The Supreme Court, does not completely prohibit punitive damages that exceed the 9-to-1 ratio. The justices merely state that such awards should be reserved for rare cases of unusual reprehensible conduct.
- The difference between the punitive award and and civil penalties used in similar cases.
Define Economic Damages
Lost wages, medical expenses, and other measurable loses
Define Non-Economic Damages
Pain and suffering and other non measurable loses
What four elements must a plaintiff establish to win a Tortious interference with a contract case?
- There was a contract between the plaintiff and a third party
- The defendant knew of the contract
- The defendant improperly induced the third party to breach the contract or made performance of the contract impossible, and
- There was injury to the plaintiff
Define Intrusion
A tort if a reasonable person would find it offensive
Define Commercial Exploitation
Prohibits the unauthorized use of another person’s likeness or voice for business purposes.
Define Conversion
A tort committed by taking or using someone else’s personal property without his permission.
What has been the progress at a state and federal level of tort reform?
- About half the states have put in place limits.
- Congress and proposed and debated bills placing limits on tort awards, but so far has not enacted such legislation
The United States v. Lopez demonstrates what?
Limitations of federal power
What is the primary source of federal power to regulate business?
The Commerce Clause
What are the Bill of Rights?
The first 10 Amendments of the Constitution
What is the legislation issue when the 15th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause’s “strict scrutiny” test will be used?
Differentiates on the basis of race
