Intentional Torts Cases Flashcards
Does D beating a classmate with two assailants outside of a dance constitute battery?
Yes. P may recover damages for an intentional harmful and wrongful physical attack. D must pay damages and incur civil liability and criminal punishment (criminal assault = tort of battery)
Cecarelli v. Maher (1943)
Does massaging a coworker’s back with sexual comments constitute offensive touching for battery?
Yes. A battery claim does not need evidence that D intended to do the harm just as long as a contact could be deemed defensive to another’s sense of personal dignity.
Paul v. Holbrook (1997)
Was D’s kick to friend P which caused injury considered offensive to a reasonable person?
Yes. The intentional nature of contact controls whether it’s battery. It doesn’t matter if the wrongdoer didn’t know what they’re doing or whether they intended to cause injury.
Cole v. Hibbard (1994)
Did a 14y/o kicking a 12y/o while in class constitute battery?
Yes. If you meant the injury or liable for all resulting injuries, whether or not they could’ve been foreseen. violation of the order and decorum of school -> unlawful.
Vosburg v. Putney (1891)
Can a five-year-old pulling the chair from under his aunt be held liable for battery?
Yes. For an act to be harmful or offensive, the act must be done for the purpose of causing that contact or with knowledge. D was substantially certain that his aunt would fall.
Garratt v. Dailey (1955)
Could there be reasonable perception of imminent threat of a gun firing even if it’s unloaded?
Yes. D can be liable if he believes there are In eminent danger, even if no real threat of harm exists.
Beach v. Hancock (1853)
Is screaming over the telephone at an operator “if I were there, I’d break your goddamn neck” sufficient to cause imminent harm or offensive contact?
No. Abusive conditional language is not lead to civil cause of action. “Threat” was stated conditionally and D wasn’t there to follow through. Threat has to be a immenent.
Brooker v. Silverthorne (1919)
Can a threat for someone in another vehicle to have you removed for yours combined with aggressive contact lead you to imminent bodily harm?
Yes. Threatening words may form a basis of an assault claim when accompanied by conduct or circumstances leading to a reasonable apprehension of imminent harmful offensive contact.
Vetter v. Morgan (1995)
Can someone in debt be discharged from bankruptcy when the person they injured was not the intended recipient?
No. Debt from an intentional wrongful act that causes injury is not dischargeable in bankruptcy, even if the person injured was not whom the debtor intended to harm.
In re White (1982)
When a 13-year-old football player is thrusted onto the ground by his football coach, can he sue for battery even though he did not expressly agree to harmful contact by his coach?
Yes. P may sue for battery while playing an organized sport if they did not expressly agree to the harmful contact. The scope of consent was limited to being tackled by players of the same age and size not a coach.
Koffman v. Garrett (2003)
Can using self-defense to ward off a rowdy neighbor yelling at you for taking your dog shield you from battery & assault claims?
Yes. During an altercation, a person has the right to use reasonable force to protect himself from being injured by another. P provoked the altercation and D defended himself in a reasonable manner.
Haeussler v. DeLoreto (1952)
Can someone protect their personal property of an unoccupied boarded-up farmhouse against trespassers by using a spring gun capable of inflicting death or serious injury?
No. The use of spring guns or similar devices to protect property against a trespasser or petty thief is not justified.
Katko v. Briney (1971)
Did D confine P when P admitted himself to D’s treatment center where he was allowed to leave on system of passes and always returned?
No. He needed to prove unreasonable confinement. D did not confine him because there was no physical restraint.
Fojtik v. Charter Med. Corp (1999)
Can D accuse P of false and prisonment if P was detained by threat but without physical restraint?
Yes. P claims he did not tell D he could not leave and P claims that D told him he could not leave and he was calling the police— which he did. fear of the law and that D already grabbed him and prevented P from leaving.
Grant v. Stop-N-Go Market of Texas, Inc. (1999)
