Intentional Torts: Battery to IIED

Question 1

What are the seven intentional torts?

Answer 1

• Battery
• Assault
• False imprisonment
• Intentional infliction of emotional distress
• Trespass on land
• Trespass to chattel
• Conversion

Question 2

What are the elements of an intentional tort?

Answer 2

• Voluntary act
• Intent
• Causation
• Harm

Question 3

What constitutes a voluntary act?

Answer 3

• Something conscious or willed, as opposed to purely reflexive.
  o EXAMPLE: Tom pushes Derik into Priscilla and Priscilla sues Derik. No liability for an intentional tort because Derik did not engage in any voluntary act.
  o EXAMPLE: Dina, during a sudden epileptic seizure, hits Polly. There is no liability because Dina did not intend the contact and there was no voluntary act.

Question 4

How is the intent element satisfied?

Answer 4

• D either:
  o desires the act to cause harmful result (purpose intent), or
  o knows with substantially certainty that such a result will occur (knowledge intent).

Question 5

What is the doctrine of transferred intent?

Answer 5

• If D acts with necessary intent to inflict certain intentional torts against P, but causes injury to victim, then D’s intent is transferred to victim.
• Only applies to battery, assault, false imprisonment, trespass to land, and trespass to chattels.
  o EXAMPLE: Dillan throws a rock at Xavier, but the rock misses Xavier and hits Pete instead. Pete sues Dillan. Dillan would be liable to Pete because he intended to commit a battery on Xavier and his bad intent will transfer to Pete.

Question 6

What does the causation element require for intentional torts?

Answer 6

• D’s act or a force set in motion by D causes P’s injury.

Question 7

What does the harm element require?

Answer 7

• Varies based on the kind of tort.
• Ways to establish harm:
  o 1) establish elements of the tort;
  o 2) prove specific injury.

Question 8

How can the harm of an intentional tort be negated?

Answer 8

• Liability for an intentional tort requires that there are no applicable privileges or defenses!

Question 9

What is battery?

Answer 9

• D causes harmful or offensive contact with P’s person or something closely connected to P.

Question 10

What are the elements of battery?

Answer 10

• Intent
• Harmful or offensive contact
• To person or something attached

Question 11

How is intent shown for battery?

Answer 11

• D must either:
  o desire to cause an immediate harmful or offensive contact; or
  o knows that such contact is substantially certain to occur.

Question 12

What constitutes harmful contact for battery?

Answer 12

• Inflict pain or impair any function of the body.

Question 13

What constitutes offensive contact for battery?

Answer 13

• Offensive to a reasonable person.

Question 14

Must the plaintiff be aware of the contact to prove battery?

Answer 14

• P need not be aware of the contact (unlike assault).

Question 15

Must the contact physically touch the person to prove battery?

Answer 15

• The contact may be to the person OR something physically closely connected to the person (like a shirt)
  o EXAMPLE: D intentionally kicks P’s cane out from under P causing him to fall to the ground.

Question 16

Does P have to prove an injury to prove battery?

Answer 16

• P does not have to prove injury; will get compensatory damages just by showing the elements.

Question 17

What are some privileges and defenses against battery?

Answer 17

• Consent

Question 18

What is assault?

Answer 18

• D intentionally causes P to be in reasonable apprehension of an imminent harmful or offensive contact.

Question 19

What are the elements of assault?

Answer 19

• Intent
• Imminence
• Reasonable apprehension

Question 20

What intent is needed to prove assault?

Answer 20

• D must:
  o act with the desire to cause an immediate harmful or offensive contact or the apprehension of such contact, or
  o know that such a result is substantially certain to result.

Question 21

How is reasonable apprehension proven?

Answer 21

• It is an objective standard. A reasonable person in the same position as P would have experienced the same apprehension.

Question 22

To prove assault, is it necessary that the D could actually carry out the threat?

Answer 22

• If the apprehension is reasonable, it doesn’t matter whether D could actually carry out the threat. For instance, brandishing an unloaded gun can still be assault.

Question 23

What is the imminence requirement for assault?

Answer 23

• Battery must be able to occur almost instantly.
  o EXAMPLE: If Dracula says he will come back tomorrow to suck your blood, it is not an assault.

Question 24

What is false imprisonment?

Answer 24

• D intentionally causes P to be confined to a bounded area against P’s will and P either knows of the confinement or is injured by it.

Question 25

What are the elements for false imprisonment?

Answer 25

• Intent
• Confinement in bounded area
• Against P’s will
• P’s awareness or injury

Question 26

What intent is required to prove false imprisonment?

Answer 26

• D desires to confine or restrain P in a bounded area, or
• knows that such confinement is virtually certain to result

Question 27

What can the confinement consist of for false imprisonment?

Answer 27

• Confinement can consist of: Physical barriers, threats of force, failing to release P after duty to release arises, or the invalid assertion of legal authority.

Question 28

How long must the confinement be for false imprisonment?

Answer 28

• No duration requirement. A very brief confinement will suffice.

Question 29

What would P need to have in order to negate a claim of false imprisonment?

Answer 29

• If P has actual knowledge of a reasonable means of escape, then there is no confinement and no liability.

Question 30

What constitutes a reasonable means of escape?

Answer 30

• Reasonable means no threat of harm to P or property. The means of escape can’t expose P to the risk of embarrassment.
  o EXAMPLE: If there is an open window on the first floor and P knows about it, there is no confinement. If there is an open window on the third floor and P would have to jump and risk injury, this is not a reasonable means of escape.
  o EXAMPLE: Don takes all of Susan’s clothes and leaves her in the middle of the woods. Because Susan does not have a reasonable means of escape, Don has falsely imprisoned her.

Question 31

What is a defense against a claim of false imprisonment?

Answer 31

• Consent is a defense. The false imprisonment must be against P’s will.
  o EXAMPLE: Paul is apprehended by an undercover store detective. He is taken to a back room to wait while the detective calls the police. Paul says he will wait for the police and then threatens to sue for false imprisonment but cannot because he has consented to the confinement.

Question 32

Would P be entitled to damages for false imprisonment if P was aware of the confinement?

Answer 32

• If P is aware of confinement: P is entitled to any damages the jury finds appropriate.

Question 33

Would P be entitled to damages for false imprisonment if P was unaware of the confinement?

Answer 33

• If P is unaware of confinement: P can only claim damages if injured by the confinement.

Question 34

What is intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED)?

Answer 34

• D engages in an intentional or reckless act amounting to extreme and outrageous conduct that causes P severe emotional distress.

Question 35

What are the elements of IIED?

Answer 35

• Intent or recklessness
• Extreme and outrageous conduct
• Severe emotional distress

Question 36

What is the difference between intentional IIED and reckless IIED?

Answer 36

• Intentional: D acts with desire to cause severe emotional distress or knows that such severe emotional distress is virtually certain to occur.
• Recklessness: D acts in conscious disregard of a high degree of probability that emotional distress will follow.
  o EXAMPLE: Dora had an ongoing feud with Pamela. Dora calls Pamela, disguises her voice and says “This is General Hospital. Your child has just been rushed to the emergency room.” Pamela suffers severe emotional distress. Dora has the intent for IIED because it was her goal to cause emotional distress.
  o EXAMPLE: Dora is at the hospital and walks by the check-in desk where she overhears a discussion and thinks that one of the nurses is saying that Pamela’s child has been rushed to the emergency room. Dora calls Pamela and conveys this information. This would suffice for IIED because it would be a form of recklessness.

Question 37

What constitutes extreme and outrageous conduct for IIED?

Answer 37

• Conduct exceeds all bounds tolerated by civilized society.

Question 38

Would offensive language be sufficiently outrageous to prove IIED?

If so, when would words be enough to prove IIED?

Answer 38

• Offensive or insulting language generally not enough, except when:
  o D is a common carrier/innkeeper;
  o D knows of P’s particular sensitivity; or
  o D is an authority figure using racial/ethnic slurs against a subordinate.

Question 39

What constitutes severe emotional distress for IIED?

Answer 39

• P does not have to prove physical injury, but distress must be severe; meaning greater than a reasonable person (objective test) would be expected to endure

Question 40

How long must the severe emotional distress be to prove IIED?

Answer 40

• Must be substantial/long lasting as opposed to trivial/transitory.