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Torts (Intentional Torts (Torts Against Persons
assault
battery
…
Torts
Intentional Torts
Elements Required For a Intentional Tort
- a voluntary act
- intent
- element of a prima facie claim for that tort
- causation
- harm
- lack of privilege or defense
Intent: defendant knows or wants act to cause harmful result
knows with some certainty of the result
Mentally handicapped and children can have intent
transferred intent occurs when defendant means to cause harm, but causes harm to an unintended party
Only applies in assault, battery, false imprisonment, trespass to land and trespass to chattels
Torts Against Persons
- assault
- battery
- false imprisonment
- IIED
Assault: Must include
- reasonable apprehension of immediate or offensive contact
- apparent ability for the contact
- reasonable person standard
- fear not required, exaggerated fears are not actionable unless defendant knew and used it against plaintiff
- words alone are insufficient- need an overt act
- actual damages not required, can get nominal damages
Battery: Must include
- harmful or offensive contact with victim or closely connected with victim
- reasonable person standard
- includes anything connected to the victim's person
- direct touch not required
- includes throwing something at them
- no apprehension required
- lack of consent of victim
False Imprisonment:must include
- intent to restrain/ confine/ bound victim
- against their will
- victim must be aware of the confinement and not consent to it
- confinement by physical barriers, failure to release when defendant has duty to let them go
- confinement also applies with the defendant assert invalid legal authority- false pretenses
- No durational requirement
- victim does not have a duty to resist the confinement if there is a valid threat of violence for doing so
- there are no reasonable means of escape that the victim is aware of
Defense to False Imprisonment
Shopkeeper's Privilege- Must be reasonable in manner, time, and based on a reasonable belief of theft
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
- intentional or reckless act, extreme and outrageous conduct and plaintiff suffers severe mental distress
- reckless conduct is enough if the act was deliberate and they disregarded the plaintiff and high degree of probability that emotional distress would follow
- conduct beyond bounds of decency
- civilized society would not tolerate the actions
- mental distress is severe and substantial, not something a reasonable person could endure
Torts Against Property
- Trespass to Land
- Trespass to Chattels
- Conversion
Trespass to Land: must Include
- Intentional entry is required, not necessary for intent to cause harm
- Mistake is not a defense, doesn't matter if they didn't know they were trespassing
- Plaintiff must have possession or right to possession of land, does not need actual ownership
- legal duty to leave
- land includes above and below the surface
- liable for nominal damages and actual harm
Trespass to Chattels: must include
- defendant engages in intentional act and interferes with chattel causing harm
*mistake is not a defense
- dispossession or intermeddling
- super serious--> conversion
Conversion: must include
- destruction or serious interference
- mistake is not a defense
- greater use of chattel and longer period of interference
- Plaintiff entitled to FMV (at time of conversion) plus consequential damages
- Replevin
- returning chattel does not fix it
Defenses to Intentional Torts
- Self Defense - protect self against injury- reasonable cannot be initial aggressor
-
- Defense of others - protect others against injury- reasonable
- Defense of Property- have asked nicely, cannot use deadly force
- Necessity- avoid harm to public, avoid more substantial harm to other property more valuable
- Reasonable person standard
- consent- express or implied, but defendant cannot exceed scope of consent
Economic Harm and Dignitary Torts
- fraud/ misrepresentation
- invasion of privacy
- defamation
- nuisance
Defamation
- Elements
- defamatory message--> lowers plaintiff's esteem in the community or discourages others from association
- Publication--> a third person would know it is about the plaintiff
- harms reputation
- Types
- libel= written
- slander= spoken, not in permanent form
- slander per se: commission of a crime, allegations of loathsome disease, imputes improper conduct, serious sexual misconduct
- Damages
- general- no proof of actual required
- pecuniary or special- monetary losses (must prove unless it is slander per se)
- Punitive - requires Malice
- Defenses
- truth- then burden shift to plaintiff
- consent
- privilege
Misrepresentation
- plaintiff relied on misrepresentation believing it was true and suffered damages
- Misstatement of Fact- by someone with superior skill and they knowingly made a false affirmative statement, concealed it, omissions/ failure to disclose
*malice
- reckless disregard to truth
- intent to induce reliance
- justifiable reliance, reasonable person standard
- causation/ damages
Invasion of Privacy
Appropriation of plaintiffs name/picture and used by defendant for commercial use and advantage without the plaintiff's consent
Intrusion of plaintiff's affairs/ seclusion and it is unreasonable
- Highly objection to the reasonable person
- plaintiff must have reasonable expectation of privacy and the information must be related to their privacy
- Intrusive
Publication of facts placing plaintiff in a false light
- actions the plaintiff did not take or beliefs he does not have
- reasonable person would be offended
- communicated to a substantial number of people
- Public Disclosure or private facts
- does not apply if newsworthy
- highly offensive and not of legit public concern
Public Nuisance
- unreasonable nuisance that interferes with the right to the general public
- public health, safety, peace, comfort or convenience
- is conduct continuing in nature? what is the duration of it?
- or permanent long lasting effect
- is conduct prescribed by state statute, ordinance or regulation
- individual cannot recover personally unless they received a higher degree of harm
Private Nuisance
- substantial/unreasonable interference with Plaintiff's use of land
Strict Liability
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-
Prima Facie Case Elements
- nature of activity imposes an absolute duty to make safe
- the dangerous aspect of the activity is the actual and proximate cause of injury
- plaintiff suffered damages to person or property
Recovery
- intentional conduct
- negligence
- breach of warranties
Defenses
- Comparative fault
- assumption of the risk
Negligence
Elements
- Duty
- Breach
- Causation
-
-
- Damages
1st Part of Analysis
DUTY
- certain standards to protect others from risk
- duty of care is owed to foreseeable plaintiffs
- there is no duty to act
Exceptions in affirmative duty
- innkeepers
- common carriers
- special relationships -
- parents have duty to reasonably control their child
- masters have duty to control servants
- duty of care in hiring employees, knowledge of servants prior bad acts
Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress
- Danger zone
- suffered physical manifestation of harm
- bystander witnessed accident and suffered severe IED and knew/ had close personal realtionship with victim
- Exception to Danger Zone - negligent death notice or mishandling a corpse
Possessors of Land
- Invitee: invited plaintiff to property and have duty to protect/ prevent injuries
- duty to discover dangerous conditions
- ex. broken handrail, sink hole in front yard, broken faucet
- Licensee: duty to exercise duty of care and warn of dangerous conditions
- ensure safe conditions of property
- Trespassers
- Unknown (stranger danger)--> no duty of care
- known trespasser -->varies by jurisdiction
- Children--> heightened standard of care
Defenses
- Comparative Fault
- Contributory Negligence
- Assumption of risk
Assumptions:
- no statutes apply unless it is in the question
- actions for wrongful death and survival actions allowed
- apply pure comparative fault
- apply joint and several liability