Intentional Torts
“Intended” Private Wrongs
OBE 118, Fall 2004
Professor McKinsey
Understanding Torts
• Torts are private wrongs
• Torts have elements that essentially must be
memorized
• Definitions often contain the elements.
• Elements are like the ingredients in cake,
skip one and you do not have a cake (or a
tort)
Intentional Torts
• Wrongs where the person intends to do an
act which will invade an interest of another
and either knows or should know there is an
appreciable risk to another from the act
Assault
• An intentional, un-privileged, un-excused, nonconsensual act that (the act)
• creates in the mind of another person
apprehension or fear of an immediate harmful and
offensive touching (the injury).
Battery
• An intentional, un-privileged, un-excused, nonconsensual harmful or offensive contact of
another.
Injury? – harmful or offensive contact
False Imprisonment
• The intentional un-privileged, nonconsensual, confinement of another by
physical barriers or by physical force or
threats of force
Injury? – Victim suffered harm from confinement
or knew of confinement
Shopkeepers Privilege: good faith, reasonable
manner, reasonable cause and reasonable time
Intentional Infliction of
Emotional Distress (IIED)
• Outrageous behavior resulting in severe
emotional distress to another
• Usually physical symptoms required
Intent? – Act with intent to cause emotional distress.
Defamation
• A false, unprivileged statement of fact
communicated to a third person, which
causes damage to a person’s or a product’s
reputation.
• Slander- transitory, oral or spoken
• Libel – more permanent, written form
Intent? – “
” is required for public figures
Injury? – To reputation by exposing to hatred,
ridicule or contempt
Defamation- Privilege
• Absolute privilege
– Governmental official performing duty
– Members of congress
– Judicial proceedings
• Qualified privilege (“lose if abused”)
– Protect legitimate business interests (Credit reporting
agencies)
– Protect ones own personal interests (Trisha Tenant)
Defamation- Public Figures
• Public figures: must show actual malice on
the part of tortfeasor
Actual malice:
• Media has a
public figures
privilege to defame
Fraud
• Intentional misrepresentation of a material
fact which is justifiably relied upon by
another and causes damages.
Intent?- Two of them!
–Intent to mislead, (knowledge of falseness)
–Intent to induce reliance on misrepresentation
Business Torts
• Tortious Interference with a Contract
(getting someone to breach a contract)
• Tortious Interference with a Prospective
Advantage
(getting someone to drop out of a probable or existing
business relationship with another)
Invasive Torts
• Intrusion
• Disclosure of Embarrassing Private
Facts
• False Light
• Commercial Exploitation
Damages
Two basic categories of damages
• Punish• Compensate for injuries-
Specific Damages
General Damages
The Bigger Picture of Torts
Traditional
“Common Law”
Torts
New
“Statutory”
Torts
When people
can require
compensation
for injuries
caused by
another