Types of Torts
INTENTIONAL
False imprisonment
Intentional Infliction of
Emotional Distress
Invasion of Privacy
Defamation
Product Disparagement
Wrongful Interference
WHN Contracts
Trespass
Computer Torts
NEGLIGANCE
Duty
Breach of Duty
Causation
Damages
STRICT LIABILITY
Inherently
Dangerous
Activities
Products
Liability
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Causal Relationships Forming the Basis of
Tort Liability
Wrongful Act
of Defendant
Proximate (immediate,
substantially contributing)
Cause of
Reasonably
Foreseeable
Cause of
May Break
Intervening
Causative Chain Wrongful Act
of Third Person
Harm
to Plaintiff
If Foreseeable, Results
in Liability for Third
Person as Well as Defendant
Tort Liability
for Defendant
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Type of Torts for which Suit is Brought
Auto
60.1%
Premises liability
17.3%
Other negligence
5.9%
Medical malpractice
4.9%
Products liability
3.4%
Intentional injury
2.9%
Nonmedical malpractice
1.8%
Toxic substance
1.6%
Unknown tort
1.2%
Slander/libel
0.8%
Source: Wall Street Journal, August 21, 1995, © Dow Jones & Company
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Chapter 9 Summary
A tort is a civil wrong that affords recovery for
damages that result. The three forms of torts are
intentional torts, negligence, and strict liability. A tort
differs from a crime in the nature of its remedy.
Fines and imprisonment result from criminal
violations, whereas money damages are paid to those
who are damaged by conduct that constitutes a tort.
An action may be both a crime and a tort, but the tort
remedy is civil in nature.
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Chapter 9 Summary (cont.)
The intentional torts consist of false
imprisonment, defamation, product
disparagement, contract interference or
tortious interference, trespass, and the
computer torts. False imprisonment is the
detention of another without his or her
permission.
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Chapter 9 Summary (cont.)
Because false imprisonment is often called the
shopkeeper’s tort, as store owners detain
suspected shoplifters, many states provide a
privilege to store owners if they detain
shoplifting suspects based on reasonable
cause and in a reasonable manner. Defamation
is slander (oral) or libel (written) and consists
of false statements about another that damage
his or her reputation or integrity.
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Chapter 9 Summary (cont.)
Truth is an absolute defense to defamation,
and there are some privileges that protect against
defamation, such as those for witnesses at trial and
for members of Congress during debates on the
floor. There is a developing privilege for employers
when they give references for former employees.
Invasion of privacy is intrusion into private affairs;
public disclosure of private facts; or appropriation of
someone’s name, image, or likeness for commercial
purposes.
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Chapter 9 Summary (cont.)
Computer torts are simply specialized
applications of torts, as in privacy and trespass
to property.
To establish the tort of negligence, one
must show that there has been a breach of
duty in the form of a violation of a statute or
professional competency standards or of
behavior that does not rise to the level of that
of a reasonable person.
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Chapter 9 Summary (cont.)
That breach of duty must have caused the
injuries to the plaintiff, and the plaintiff must
be able to quantify the damages that resulted.
Possible defenses to negligence include
contributory negligence, comparative
negligence, and assumption of risk.
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Chapter 9 Summary (cont.)
Liability for torts has been expanding in
terms of the amounts awarded and the persons
who can be held liable. Currently there are
numerous statutes, decisions, and ballot
propositions designed to reduce tort liability.
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