HOT
D E BAT E
Where do you stand?
Your neighbor Shana is using a multipurpose woodcutting
machine in her basement hobby shop. Suddenly, because
of a defect in the two-year-old machine, a metal clamp
from the machine breaks. The metal strikes Shana’s left
eye, badly injuring it. The manufacturer had provided a
one-year warranty against defects on the machine.
1.Do you think the manufacturer should be responsible for
paying Shana’s medical expenses?
2.What defense(s) does the manufacturer have against a
suit for damages for the injury.
The Law of Torts
One Person’s interference with another’s
rights, either through intent, negligence, or
strict liability. In other words, a private or
civil wrong.
What is a Tortfeasor?
Your Rights…..
 To be free from bodily harm.
 To enjoy a good reputation.
 To conduct business without unwarranted interference.
 To have one’s property free from damage or trespass.
Torts Are Classified As Being Intentional or Unintentional
The elements of a tort are:
1. Duty
2. Breach
3. Injury
4. Causation
We also have the duty to respect
the rights of others.
1. The duty not to injure another.
2. The duty not to interfere with the
property rights of others.
3. The duty not to interfere with the
economic rights of others, such as the
right to contract.
Intentional Torts
Intentional Torts
Wrong that occurs when a person knows and desires the
consequences of his or her act.
Examples:
Invasion of Privacy
False Imprisonment
Emotional Distress
Assault
Battery
Defamation Deceit
Nuisance
Trespass
Conversion
Trespass
Wrongful injury to or interference with the property of another.
Nuisance
Anything that interferes with the enjoyment of life or property.
Defamation
Wrongful act of injuring another’s reputation by making false
statements.
False Imprisonment
Unlawful Physical Restraint
Invasion of Privacy
Interfering with a person’s right to be alone.
Unintentional Torts
*The most common tort.
*Intent is not required for
Negligence
this tort, only carelessness.
Failure to exercise the degree of care that a reasonable
person would have exercised in the same circumstances.
To succeed in a tort suit for negligence, you must prove all of the following:
 The defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care.
 The defendant failed to act as a reasonable person would
have and, therefore, did not use the degree of care
required under the circumstances (breach of duty).
 The breach of duty defendant was the proximate cause of
the injury to the plaintiff.
 The plaintiff suffered some actual harm or injury.
Key Terms
Duty of Care
Each of us has certain rights--the rest of us have the duty not to violate
those rights.
Breach of Duty
Not exercising the degree of care that a reasonable person would exercise
in that same situation.
Proximate Cause
Something that produces a result, and without which,
the result would not have occurred.
Actual Harm
Must show he or she suffered some sort of harm.
Defenses to Negligence
 You Can Defend a Negligence Suit by
Eliminating One of the Four Elements.
 Contributory Negligence
Prove that the plaintiff’s own negligence helped
cause the injuries.
Comparative Negligence
Compare each party, then the amount of the
plaintiff’s recovery is reduced by the percent of
their negligence.
Defenses (cont.)
Assumption of Risk
Plaintiff new risk involved and still took the
chance of being injured.
Strict Liability
Ultra-hazardous activities
Injunction
Court order issued by a judge ordering a person
to do or not to do something.
What’s your verdict?
Mrs. Lamm went to a grocery store and
placed a carton of a carbonated soft drink
in her shopping cart. One of the bottles
exploded and the broken glass cut her leg.
Can she collect in tort from the grocery
store or the bottler?
What’s your verdict?
Joan was a guest in Lane’s home. While leaving
the house, Joan was injured when she slipped on
some ice that had formed on the steps leading
from the door. Lane had cautioned Joan about the
possibility of the steps being slippery, and Joan
admitted seeing the ice.
In a legal action claiming negligence, would
Lane be liable?