LAW 2: TORT LAW
TORT LAW
TORT LAW
INTRODUCTION
TORT LAW
INTRODUCTION
• Tort law is a type of civil law.
• Under TORT LAW, individuals have a duty
to act reasonably at all times in order to
ensure the safety of other people and their
property.
• People who don’t exercise reasonable
care may be LIABLE, or legally
responsible.
TORT LAW
INTRODUCTION
• Those injured because of someone’s
unreasonable, wrongful actions have the
right to be compensated under tort law.
• Tort liability exists for three major
categories of conduct: intentional wrongs,
acts of negligence, and activities for which
strict liability is imposed.
TORT LAW
INTENTIONAL TORTS
TORT LAW
INTENTIONAL TORTS
• Actions taken to deliberately harm another
person or their property are called
INTENTIONAL TORTS.
• There are two general types of intentional
torts: those causing injury to persons and
those causing harm to property.
• In the law of torts, the required intent is to
do the forbidden act, not necessarily a bad
motive or desire to cause harm.
TORT LAW
INTENTIONAL TORTS
• The most common intentional torts include
assault, battery, false imprisonment, fraud,
infliction of emotional distress, defamation,
invasion of privacy, malicious prosecution,
conversion, trespass, and infringement.
• Since there is some overlap between
criminal law and tort law, only torts without
crime counterparts will be examined in this
unit.
TORT LAW
EMOTIONAL DISTRESS
• A relatively new tort is known as
intentional INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL
DISTRESS; courts have only recognized it
since about 1940.
• A person commits this tort by intentionally
using words or actions that are meant to
scare someone or cause them extreme
anxiety or emotional distress.
TORT LAW
EMOTIONAL DISTRESS
• Actual physical injury is not required for
the plaintiff to recover damages.
• However, courts do require that the
defendant’s conduct be quite outrageous
and that the plaintiff prove extreme
distress.
• Mere insults are not enough to form the
basis of a lawsuit for emotional distress.
TORT LAW
DEFAMATION
• A person’s reputation is protected by laws
prohibiting defamation.
• Defamation includes acts that harms a
person’s good name and can be classified
as oral or written.
• Oral statements that harm reputation are
called SLANDER; written or printed
defamation is called LIBEL.
TORT LAW
DEFAMATION
• DEFAMATION occurs when someone
makes a false statement about another
person that is communicated to a third
party, causing harm to the person’s
reputation.
• Therefore, the defendant must show that
they have suffered actual damages as a
result of the statement.
TORT LAW
DEFAMATION
• Proving that an offensive statement is true
is a complete defense in a defamation
lawsuit.
• In the United States, freedom of speech
and freedom of the press are very
important.
• Therefore, courts balance a person’s right
to protect their reputation against the
public’s interest in receiving a wide range
TORT LAW
of information.
DEFAMATION
• For this reason, the U.S. Supreme Court
has established rules making it difficult for
public figures to win damage awards
against the media.
• To win a defamation suit against the
media, a public figure must prove not only
that a statement was false and caused
harm, but also that the statement was
made with actual malice.
TORT LAW
DEFAMATION
• This means that the statement was made
with knowledge of its falsity or with a
reckless disregard for whether the
statement was true.
• These rules make it difficult for famous
people to sue the media and win.
• In a sense, famous people sacrifice some
protection of their reputations.
TORT LAW
DEFAMATION
• In addition, statements made by legislators
on the floor of congress and statements
made in a court of law are immune from
liability, even those made with malice.
• These privileged statements protect the
open debate of legislative and judicial
matters and are therefore not subject to a
defamation suit.
TORT LAW
INVASION OF PRIVACY
• INVASION OF PRIVACY is another tort
that may cause emotional injury or
economic damage.
• A person can be liable for intruding on
someone’s private life and their right to be
left alone.
TORT LAW
INVASION OF PRIVACY
• These intrusions may include spying,
eavesdropping, electronic monitoring,
reading someone’s mail or diary, and
going through someone’s wallet without
permission.
TORT LAW
MALICIOUS PROSECUTION
• MALICIOUS PROSECUTION refers to
filing a lawsuit for purposes of harassing
the defendant when there is no genuine
basis for the suit.
• If the defendant in the lawsuit wins and
has evidence that the suit was filed out of
harassing motives and without any legal or
factual foundation, it may be the basis of a
claim for damages against the person who
filed the original action.
TORT LAW
MALICIOUS PROSECUTION
• If malicious prosecution is clearly proved
against the party who brought the original
suit, punitive damages may be awarded
along with compensatory damages.
• In some cases, courts have held that an
attorney who knowingly assists a client in
filing a baseless lawsuit out of malice may
also be liable for damages.
TORT LAW
MALICIOUS PROSECUTION
• Before bringing a suit for a malicious
prosecution, the original lawsuit must be
decided in favor of the victim.
TORT LAW
CONVERSION
• CONVERSION occurs when someone
unlawfully exercises control over the
personal property of another person.
• The personal property may be stolen,
damaged, destroyed, moved, discarded,
hidden, or used in violation of the owner’s
intentions.
TORT LAW
CONVERSION
• The remedy for conversion is usually in
the form of damages equal to the value of
the property.
• The tort of conversion in the civil system is
similar to the crimes of larceny and
receiving stolen property in the criminal
system.
TORT LAW
CONVERSION
• If a COUNTERCLAIM is filed, the plaintiff
becomes a defendant and will be called on
to file an answer to the allegations and
counts contained in the counterclaim
TORT LAW
TRESPASS
• The tort of TRESPASS occurs when a
person enters another person’s property
without permission.
• The property owner can recover damages
from the trespasser even if there is no
harm to the property because the law
protects the owner’s exclusive right to the
property.
TORT LAW
TRESPASS
• Intent is required to commit trespass;
however, the only requirement is that the
intruder intended to be on the particular
property in question.
• In a technical sense, a trespass occurs
every time someone cuts across a
neighbor’s lawn.
TORT LAW
TRESPASS
• Obviously, landowners rarely sue people
who merely walk across their property, but
the option is available for circumstances of
excessive abuse.
TORT LAW
INFRINGEMENT
• INFRINGEMENT is the illegal use of
someone’s intellectual property, such as a
copyright, patent, or trademark.
• Intellectual property law promotes
progress because it provides an incentive
for engaging in creative pursuits.
• Also, most people think it is fair that
creators profit from their creations.
TORT LAW
INFRINGEMENT
• However, advancements are often made
by building on the work of others.
• If people cannot use the work of others, it
might hinder technology and progress, so
intellectual property rights, especially
patents, are kept somewhat limited.
TORT LAW
INFRINGEMENT
• Surprise witnesses and covert evidence
often show up on television or in the
movies, but rarely in a real courtroom.
• The overall purpose of the discovery
process is to make sure that each side has
ample opportunity to discover the claims
or defenses of the other party so that at
the time of trial, each party is fully aware of
what the other party intends to present.
TORT LAW
NEGLIGENCE
TORT LAW
ELEMENTS OF NEGLIGENCE
• NEGLIGENCE is a failure to exercise
ordinary care.
• Unlike intentional torts—many of which
have specific names—negligence is a very
broad term that deals with many kinds of
wrongful conduct.
• Therefore, it is the most common
occurring tort in society.
TORT LAW
ELEMENTS OF NEGLIGENCE
• An important legal difference between
negligence and an intentional tort is that if
someone is the victim of negligence, they
are not eligible to recover punitive
damages in addition to compensatory
damages.
• For a plaintiff to win a negligence lawsuit
against the defendant, each of the
following elements must be proven by a
preponderance of TORT
evidence:
LAW
ELEMENTS OF NEGLIGENCE
1.DUTY: The defendant, or accused
wrongdoer, owed a duty of care to the
plaintiff, or injured person.
2.BREACH OF DUTY: The defendant’s
conduct breached or violated the duty as
defined by the reasonable person
standard.
TORT LAW
ELEMENTS OF NEGLIGENCE
• The reasonable person standard signifies
a hypothetical and sensible person in
society who exercises average care, skill,
and judgment in conduct while serving as
a comparative model for determining
liability.
• In court, the trier of fact, either a judge or
jury, will set this standard to help
determine possible liability.
TORT LAW
ELEMENTS OF NEGLIGENCE
3.CAUSATION: The defendant’s conduct
directly caused the plaintiff’s harm and it
was reasonably foreseeable.
4.INJURY: The plaintiff suffered actual injury
or loss.
TORT LAW
DEFENSES TO NEGLIGENCE
• A plaintiff can recover damages when they
are able to prove each of the elements of
negligence.
• However, even when all the elements can
be proven, the defendant may still be able
to raise a valid legal defense through
contributory negligence, comparative
negligence, or assumption of risk.
TORT LAW
DEFENSES TO NEGLIGENCE
• CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE is a
traditional legal defense in which a plaintiff
cannot recover damages from the
defendant if their own negligence
contributed in any way to the harm
suffered.
• The result must stand no matter how
minor the plaintiff’s own negligence was.
TORT LAW
DEFENSES TO NEGLIGENCE
• This is indeed a very harsh principle of law
and in many instances is unfair to people
who are probably entitled to recover
something, but may not be deserving of
100% compensation.
• To avoid the all-or-nothing outcomes of
contributory negligence, the vast majority
of states, including Michigan, have
switched to a system of comparative
negligence.
TORT LAW
DEFENSES TO NEGLIGENCE
• COMPARATIVE NEGLIGENCE measures
the negligence of the plaintiff and the
defendant and then reduces the amount of
the plaintiff’s recovery by the percentage
of their own negligence.
• Another legal defense in negligence cases
is assumption of risk.
TORT LAW
DEFENSES TO NEGLIGENCE
• ASSUMPTION OF RISK is used when a
defendant can show that the plaintiff
voluntarily encountered a known danger
and decided to accept the implied risk of
that danger.
• This defense has been used successfully
by sports franchises when they have been
sued.
TORT LAW
DEFENSES TO NEGLIGENCE
• Benejam v. Detroit Tigers, Inc. (Wayne
Circuit Court, 2001) set precedent for
Michigan sport franchise assumption of
risk cases.
• The ruling concluded that the Tigers had
no duty to warn about bat fragment
projectiles potentially entering the seats
because the danger was open and
obvious.
TORT LAW
DEFENSES TO NEGLIGENCE
• Assumption of risk defenses can also be
used when a warning is posted that gives
notice of a certain danger such as signs
indicating “Swim at Your Own Risk” or
“Caution Slippery Floor.”
TORT LAW
STRICT LIABILITY
TORT LAW
STRICT LIABILITY
• STRICT LIABILITY applies to situations
where a person or company causes an
injury but didn’t act negligently, and
certainly didn’t intend to harm anyone.
• However, because of the type of activity
they engage in, the law holds these
individuals to a higher standard and will
find them liable for damages resulting from
their behavior.
TORT LAW
STRICT LIABILITY
• The theory behind imposing strict liability
is that inherently hazardous activities pose
an undue risk of harm to members of the
community.
• Thus, anyone who conducts such an
activity does so at their own risk, and is
responsible when something goes wrong
and someone is harmed.
TORT LAW
STRICT LIABILITY
• The law reasons that the people who pose
such risks are in the best position to pay
for injuries that result.
• Three specific groups of people face strict
liability: people who engage in highly
dangerous activities, owners of dangerous
animals, and manufacturers and sellers of
defective consumer products.
TORT LAW
STRICT LIABILITY
• For people who participate in activities like
these, the reasonable person standard
does not apply.
• Instead, these people are automatically
held liable for any injuries or damage
caused by their actions, even if they took
all necessary precautions.
• Therefore, strict liability is commonly
referred to as liability without fault.
TORT LAW
DANGEROUS ACTIVITIES
• Strict liability applies to activities that are
unreasonably dangerous.
• Activities are considered unreasonably
dangerous when they involve a risk of
harm that cannot be eliminated by
reasonable care.
• These activities may be socially useful or
necessary, but because they are so
inherently unsafe, those who conduct
them are held to the
liability standard.
TORT strict
LAW
DANGEROUS ACTIVITIES
• Highly dangerous activities generally
include the transportation, storage, and
use of explosives, hazardous chemicals,
and/or radioactive materials.
• Companies conducting dangerous
activities know that they are strictly liable
for any harm they cause.
• Therefore, they include this cost in the
price they charge for the work.
TORT LAW
ANIMALS
• The law has traditionally held owners
strictly liable for any harm caused by their
untamed animals.
• Even the owner of a tamed wild animal,
such as lion or tiger, may be held strictly
liable for any harm it causes because of
the nature of the animal itself.
TORT LAW
ANIMALS
• The situation differs, however, for
household pets.
• In most states, an owner of a pet is strictly
liable only if they knew, or should have
known, that the pet was dangerous or
destructive.
• There is a saying that “Every dog is
entitled to one free bite.”
TORT LAW
ANIMALS
• However, owners of certain breeds of dogs
with aggressive traits, such as pit bulls and
Rottweilers, are generally strictly liable for
the first bite by statute or ordinance.
• There may also be liability if near misses
have put the owner on notice of the dog’s
viciousness.
TORT LAW
PRODUCT LIABILITY
• Harm caused by defective products is a
significant social problem.
• In a typical year, more than one million
consumers suffer product-related injuries
and nearly half of them sue to recover
damages.
• Thus, PRODUCT LIABILITY protects
consumers from being injured by
dangerous and defective products they
TORT LAW
buy.
PRODUCT LIABILITY
• Manufacturers and sellers are frequently
held strictly liable to any user or bystander
of a defective product who has suffered
injuries or damages.
• In such a case, the injured party does not
have to establish that the manufacturer
was negligent, rather only that the product
was defective.
TORT LAW
PRODUCT LIABILITY
• Product liability is meant to create a strong
incentive for companies to design safe
products, test products thoroughly before
placing them on the market, and include
clear directions and warnings on products.
TORT LAW
WRONGFUL DEATH
TORT LAW
WRONGFUL DEATH
• When someone is killed as a result of
intent, negligence, or strict liability, a
WRONGFUL DEATH claim may entitle the
surviving beneficiaries to monetary
damages because of the defendant's
unlawful conduct.
• Wrongful death statutes vary from state to
state, but in general they define who may
sue for wrongful death and what, if any,
limits may be applied
to
an
award
of
TORT LAW
damages.
WRONGFUL DEATH
• Michigan does not put a limit on the
damages that may be awarded as long as
they are deemed to be “fair and equitable
under all the circumstances.”
• Compensatory damages, which are
intended to make restitution for the
amount of money lost, are the most
common damages awarded in wrongful
death actions.
TORT LAW
WRONGFUL DEATH
• Other damages typically consist of solace
and grief experienced by the survivors,
loss of earnings suffered by the
dependants from the decedent’s
subsequent inability to generate income,
and medical and funeral expenses.
• Punitive damages may also be awarded if
the defendant's actions were particularly
reckless or heinous.
TORT LAW