Intentional Torts
Intentional Interference with Person or Property
I.
Intent
A. Garratt v. Dailey
1. Child moves a chair, found liable for intending to remove the chair
B. Wagner v. State
1. Case against the state, special needs adult -- battery of a woman in store
a) State is immune from battery
2. Doesn’t matter the intent, the action is what matters
3. Battery is offense through contact -- intent to make contact. Battery does not
require the intent to harm. Has to know that their action will cause a contact, and
that the law considers that contact to be offensive
4. Deliberately brought about contact, doesn’t matter if you planned to offend
C. Ranson v. Kitner
1. Shot a dog thinking it was a wolf
2. Liable for that mistake, doesn’t matter if it was in good faith
D. McGuire v. Almy
1. Insane, told caretaker not to enter
2. Mentally disabled persons may be held responsible for their intentional torts as
long as plaintiff can prove that they formed the requisite intent
3. “For this case it is enough to say that where an insane person by his act does
intentional damage to the person or property of another he is liable for that
damage in the same circumstances in which a normal person would be liable” p.
28
E. Talmage v. Smith
1. Sheds, threw stick
2. Transferred intent: where the defendant has shot at A, struck at him, or thrown a
punch or rock at him, and unintentionally hit B instead. Liable.
II.
Battery
A. Cole v. Turner
1. That the least touching of another in anger is a battery
2. If two or more meet in a narrow passage, and without any violence or design of
harm, the one touches the other gently it will be no battery
3. If any of them use violence against the other, to force his way in a rude inordinate
manner, it is a battery; or any struggle about the passage to that degree as may do
hurt, is a battery
B. Wallace v. Rosen
1. Teacher in the hallway, touch and fell down stairs
2. A battery is the knowing or intentional touching of one person by another in a
rude, insolent, or angry manner
3. A battery may be recklessly committed where one acts in reckless disregard of
the consequences, and the fact the person does not intend that the act shall result
in an injury is immaterial
4. In a crowded world...p. 34
5. Restatement on p. 35
C. Fisher v. Carrousel Motor Hotel, Inc.
1. Plate, NASA
2. One’s “person”
3. Plaintiff is awarded damages for mental suffering due to the willful battery
because the basis of that action is the ​unpermitted and intentional invasion of the
plaintiff’s person and not the actual harm done to the plaintiff’s body
III.
Assault
A. I de S et ux. V. W de S
1. Threw hatchet, missed
2. No harm done, but this was an assault
B. Western Union Telegraph Co. v. Hill
1. Tried to touch across desk, fixing her clock
2. Attempt, something stopping. Matters what she thinks he can do
IV.
False Imprisonment
A. Big Town Nursing Home, Inc., v. Newman
1. Brough to nursing home against will
2. There was no court order for commitment, and that the admission agreement
provided he was not to be kept against his will
3. Cannot be held without adequate justification
B. Parvi v. City of Kingston
1. Drunk was brought outside city limits
2. If your only way out is dangerous, you are falsely imprisoned
3. Later recognition of consciousness, but ​consciousness of imprisonment at the
time of imprisonment​ is key!
C. Hardy v. LaBelle’s Distributing Co.
1. Stealing watch, was wrong
2. Not held against her will, feeling “compelled” to stay is not enough to be falsely
imprisoned
3. Plaintiff wanted to stay and did not ask to leave, she was not told that she had to
stay, she would have gone into the room voluntarily if she knew the true
circumstances (testified)
D. Enright v. Groves
1. Unleashed dog, license
2. Groves did not arrest Enright for the violation of a dog leash ordinance, it is clear
that he arrested her for not producing her license
3. Must be detained with cause
E. Whittaker v. Sandford
1. Boat, religious sect
2. Lock and key analogy. Effectually locked up as if there were walls along the
sides of the vessel
V.
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
A. State Rubbish Collectors Ass’n v. Siliznoff
1. Sick, threats
2. Liability is clear, plaintiff caused defendant to suffer severe fright
3. One who, without privilege to do so, intentionally causes severe emotional
distress to another is liable (a) for such emotional distress, and (b) for bodily
harm resulting from it (p. 55)
4. In cases where mental suffering constitutes a major element of damages it is
analogous to deny recovery because the defendant’s intentional misconduct fell
short of producing some physical injury (p. 56)
5. Side note: not ​assault​ b/c threat for the future, not right at this moment
a) Assault is being put in fear that danger is imminent
6. Measure of severity: did it result in physical manifestation?
a) Suffering itself is a physical injury
B. Slocum v. Food Fair Stores of Florida
1. You stink to me
2. Can insulting language alone constitute an actionable invasion of a legally
protected right? It’s rude, but not IIED
C. Harris v. Jones
1. GM, bullying, history of nervousness, mimicking stuttering
2. The evidence that Jones’ reprehensible conduct humiliated Harris and caused him
emotional distress, which was manifested by an aggravation of Harris’
pre-existing nervous condition and a worsening of his speech impediment, was
vague and weak at best” (p. 64)
3. The personality of the individual to whom the misconduct is directed is also a
factor (p. 63)
4. Four elements of IIED (​p. 63)
a) Conduct must be intentional or reckless
b) Conduct must be extreme and outrageous
c) Causal connection between the wrongful conduct and the emotional
distress
d) Emotional distress must be severe
D. Taylor v. Vallelunga
1. Watched her father get beaten
2. In the absence of intent can one be liable for IIED? NO
3. There is no allegation that defendants knew that appellant was present and
witnessed the beating that was administered to her father, nor was there any
allegation that the beating was administered for the purpose of causing her to
suffer emotional distress…
VI.
Trespass to Land
A. Dougherty v. Stepp
1. Surveyor and chain carriers
2. From every such entry against the will of the possessor, the law infers some
damage; if nothing more, treading down the grass or herbage, or as here, the
shrubbery (p. 72)
B. Herrin v. Sutherland
1. Hunting birds while standing on the land of another, and shot a bird flying over
the plaintiff’s land
2. Is airspace a part of someone’s land? Can it be trespassed? YES
C. R​ogers v. Board of Road Com’rs for Kent County
1. Snow fence, killed P while mowing lawn
2. You can become a trespasser by overstaying your welcome...continuing
trespass...see p. 77
VII.
Trespass to Chattels
A. Glidden v. Szybiak
1. Candy store and dog
2. If no harm comes to the chattel (such as here) is the person interacting with the
chattel liable for trespass of chattels? *Does an action constitute a trespass to
chattels if the chattel itself is unharmed? NO
3. If the plaintiff is old enough to be guilty of trespass or another tort, she would be
liable for the damages that the dog inflicted… no harm to the dog, just harmless
intermeddling...no trespass occurred
B. CompuServe Inc. v. Cyber Promotions, Inc.
1. Spam
2. Does TTC require that someone take physical custody of/damage the chattel? NO
3. Business rep and goodwill was at stake
VIII.
Conversion
A. Pearson v. Dodd
1. Documents
2. Are information and ideas property?
3. What constitutes conversion starting on p. 90
Privileges
I.
Consent
A. O’Brien v. Cunard S.S. Co.
1. Vaccination
2. Do overt acts and manifestations of feelings constitute consent?
3. “The surgeon had a right to presume” … p. 97… the series of events leading up
to the vaccination i.e. waiting in line, seeing the signs
B. Hackbart v. Cincinatti Bengals, Inc.
1. Football
II.
III.
2. Do people engaging in sports waive their consent to get hurt because the “social
policy” of the game is violent? Assumption of risk? NO
3. The injury in this case came from an illegal hit… not all reason has been
abandoned
C. Mohr v. Williams
1. Ear specialist, right versus left
2. To what extent does a patient implicitly consent to unexpected but necessary
operations by a physician?
3. If it is life/death, life in immediate danger preserve life/limb
4. No assault and battery occurred
5. Express consent p. 103
D. De May v. Roberts
1. Childbirth
2. Is consent effective if it is obtained through deceit?
3. NO
4. Informed consent, note five p. 108
Defense of Property
A. Katko v. Briney
1. Springgun
2. You can’t protect your home in a way that threatens another’s life/limb
3. An owner may use a mechanical device to protect property only if she would be
privileged to use such force if she were present and acting herself
B. Hodgeden v. Hubbard
1. Stove, running away
2. Can victims of theft apply force in order to retrieve their property?
3. Yes, if it is reasonable. “The privilege is limited to force under the reasonable
circumstances,” “If the wrongdoer resists, the owner may use any force
reasonably required to prevent the property from being taken and to defend his
own person” (p. 121)
C. Bonkowski v. Arlan’s Dept. Store
1. Thought she was shoplifting
2. Are merchants entitled to withhold potential shoplifters?
3. “The privileges stated in this section is necessary for the protection of a
shopkeeper against the dilemma in which he would otherwise find himself when
he reasonably believes that a shoplifter has taken goods from his counter. If there
were no such privilege, he must either permit the suspected person to walk out of
the premises and disappear, or must arrest him, at the risk of liability for false
arrest if the theft could not be proved” (p. 123)
Necessity
A. Surocco v. Geary
1. Blew up house
2. “Necessity provides a privilege for private rights”
3. “Individual rights of property give way to the higher laws of impending
necessity”
4. “The right to destroy property, to prevent the spread of a conflagration, has been
traced to the highest law of necessity, and the natural rights of man, independent
of society or civil government”
B. Vincent v. Lake Erie Transp. Co.
1. Boat and dock, damage
2. Prioritising one piece of property over another, OK but you still need to pay
damages
IV.
Justification
A. Sindle v. New York City Transit Authority
1. Bus of middle school students
2. Is a bus driver (alternative guardian entrusted w/ care or supervising of a child)
entitled to use force/discipline against the child/ren under their care? YES
3. They have the duty…”a parent, guardian or teacher entrusted with the care or
supervision of a child may use physical force reasonably necessary to maintain
discipline or promote the welfare of the child” p. 136
Negligence
I.
The Formula
A. Lubitz v. Wells
1. Little kids, golf club
2. If an item is not intrinsically dangerous, is it negligent to leave it lying around?
NO
3. Knowledge is key
B. Blyth v. Birmingham Waterworks Co.
1. House damaged by water
2. Can a defendant be liable for negligence because damage occurred due to
unforeseeable natural causes?
3. “Such a state of circumstances constitutes a contingency against which no
reasonable man can provide” (p. 143)
4. You must do your due diligence
C. Pipher v. Parsell
1. Messing with the wheel
2. Does a driver have a duty to their passenger/s to stop foreseeable actions by other
passengers that are dangerous? YES
3. Duty of the driver on p. 145
D. Chicago v. Krayenbuhl
1. Padlock, ankle
2. Do owners of potentially dangerous chattels have a duty to provide reasonable
protective measures against the chattel’s inherent danger?
3. When is someone liable for negligence for not taking adequate precautions?
a) Negligently not doing something versus negligently doing something
4. A reasonable person would do something…
E. Davison v. Snohomish County
1. Crashed through railing
2. Does the county have a duty to erect railings to prevent cars from going off the
road? NO. The taxpayer burden would be too much
F. U.S. v. Carroll Towing Co.
1. Someone was not on the vessel
2. Should have had someone on the vessel
3. LEARNED HAND FORMULA -- Burden is greater than Probability times
(L) Injury … then one is not negligent for failing to take that precaution
a) Burden -- cost of taking precautions
b) Probability -- potential of a loss… “shit happens”
c) L (Injury) -- injury/loss magnitude
d) Juries should handle this issue, applicable to almost every negligence
case
II.
The Standard of Care
A. Vaughan v. Menlove
1. Hay rick, could ignite and did ignite
2. D used his own best judgement, but this is too uncertain and too unfair
3. ORDINARY PRUDENCE: negligence is when you fail to exercise the standard
level of care
B. Delair v. McAdoo
1. Tire blew out
2. Drivers are held to a standard higher than the ordinarily prudent man test!
C. Trimarco v. Klein
1. Bath and glass door
2. Customary practice
3. Would a reasonable landlord replace all of the glass doors on bath tubs with
tempered glass?
4. “The mere fact that another person or landlord may have used a better or safer
practice does not establish a standard” p. 163
D. Cordas v. Peerless
1. Chauffer’s vehicle was invaded by a man with a gun
2. In an emergency situation, is one held to the mature judgement required by him
under typical circumstances? NO. No one is expected to be a hero… in these
circumstances
E. Roberts v. State of Louisiana
1. Blind
2. Allowed some allowances, negligence determined by ordinary person
with/without those circumstances
F. Robinson v. Lindsay
1. Snowmobile, kids
2. When the activity a child engages in is inherently dangerous, should they be held
to the standard of a reasonable and prudent adult? YES
3. Balance between preserving childhood play and protecting others
G. Breuning v. American Family
1. Batman
2. At which point should tort law make allowances for people with a mental
disorder?
3. Two criteria for allowance
a) No forewarning
b) Illness effects ability to understand reasonable duty
III.
The Professional
A. Heath v. Swiftwings
1. Plane crash
2. Black letter law: objective minimum standard should be applied to specialty
occupations… no exception for novices
3. Protects the people under your care, analogous to child driving a snowmobile
4. Necessary for public health and safety