Intentional Torts / Damages Flashcards
Purpose of damages?
To make the plaintiff whole and deter tortious behavior.
2 types of Compensatory Damages
Economic (quantifiable/dollar amount)
Non-economic (not quantifiable)
What is the standard for Punitive Damages?
Actor was wanton or consciously careless
Eggshell Skull Rule
Tortfeasor takes victim as they find them; Tortfeasor cannot complain about amount of damages caused to another when the extent of the injury was not foreseeable because of hidden vulnerability
Difference between wanton disregard and deliberate indifference?
Wanton disregard – you should know and don’t care
Deliberate indifference – you do know and don’t care
What is “wrong” at the heart of an intentional tort? What is tortious about it?
They violate/invade the personal dignity of another person
Elements of Battery
D Acts (of their own volition/consciousness)
D intends to make contact with P
Contact is of harmful or offensive type
D’s act causes P to suffer such a contact
Elements of Assault
D acts (of their own volition)
Intending to cause in P an apprehension of an imminent harmful OR offensive contact
D’s act causes P to reasonably apprehend such a contact
What is transferred intent? Why is it allowed (public policy)?
There need be no actual intent to injure the particular person who is injured. Every person is liable for the direct, natural consequences of his acts.
The public policy implications of transferred intent are to dissuade people from hurting other people.
Elements of False Imprisonment
D acts (of their own volition)
Intent to confine P
D’s act causes P to actually be confined
P is aware of confinement
Defenses to Assault and Battery (4)
- Consent
- Self-Defense
- Defense of Property
- Recapture of Property (real or personal)
Elements of IIED
Extreme/outrageous conduct
Intended or with reckless disregard so it could be expected to cause SEVERE emotional distress
Actually DOES cause severe emotional distress (physical harm not required)
What’s the difference between assault and IIED?
Immediate apprehension vs. Future threat
Definition of outrageous
Goes beyond all bounds of decency; would lead someone to exclaim “outrageous!”
When is conduct “outrageous” vs. Merely offensive? I.E. - Proving outrageousness and IIED is VERY difficult; courts are reluctant to “go there” because the law is relatively new.
Bystander Liability in IIED
If they aren’t immediate family and want to claim IIED, there must be bodily harm (not just a physical manifestation of distress)
Immediate family member does not need a bodily harm to claim IIED, only emotional distress
