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Business Law
Principles
and Practices 8e
Arnold J. Goldman William D. Sigismond
Chapter 4: Traditional Torts and Cyber Torts
Overview of Tort Law
Tort: wrongful act causing injury to another person or damage to another’s property.
Tort law: law dealing with private wrongs and affecting individuals rather than society as a whole.
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Overview of Tort Law
Criminal law is primarily statutory.
Tort law is still connected to common law and has evolved from particular cases.
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Classification of Torts
Intentional torts.
Torts resulting from negligence.
Torts based on the concept of strict liability.
All persons, including minors, are legally responsible for their torts.
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Intentional Torts
Intentional tort: when one person deliberately inflicts injury to another person or damages that person’s property.
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Assault and Battery
Assault: unlawfully threatening another person.
Battery: unlawfully striking another person.
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False Imprisonment
False imprisonment: unlawfully restricting a person’s freedom of movement.
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False Arrest
False arrest: unauthorized detainment by an officer of the law.
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Infliction of Emotional Distress
Infliction of emotional distress: when one person’s extreme conduct causes severe mental suffering in another; also called outrage.
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Defamation
Defamation: oral or written false statements that injure a person’s reputation.
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Slander and Libel
Slander: oral false statements that injure a person’s reputation.
Libel: written false statements that injure a person’s reputation.
The Supreme Court’s 1964 decision, New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, swept aside states’ laws on defamation.
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Invasion of Privacy
Invasion of privacy: violating one’s right to be left alone.
Use without consent.
Intrusion.
Wrongful disclosure.
Publicity that creates a false impression.
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Wrongful Death
Wrongful death: wrongful act that causes the death of another.
Can be either intentional or unintentional.
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Malicious Prosecution
Malicious prosecution: wrongfully initiating a lawsuit against one who has done no wrong.
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Fraud
Fraud: deliberate false statement or concealment of a material fact.
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Interference With Contractual Relations
Interference with contractual relations: intentional procuring of breach of a valid contract.
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Trespass
Trespass: illegally entering or remaining on the property of another.
A person who owns real property generally owns a reasonable amount of the air space above the land.
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Conversion
Conversion: wrongfully exercising control or ownership over another’s personal property.
Conversion also occurs when someone purchases stolen property and then, after a proper demand is made, refuses to return it to its rightful owner.
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Nuisance
Nuisance: use of one’s property to annoy or disturb others.
The courts tend to consider the effect of the act on the average person and the commonsense realities of the situation.
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Injunction
Injunction: court order forbidding a person from doing a certain act.
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Theft of Trade Secrets
Theft of trade secrets: unlawfully acquiring information vital to a business.
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Defenses to Intentional Torts
Consent.
Privilege.
Necessity.
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Torts Resulting From Negligence
Negligence: breach of a legal duty to act carefully, resulting in injury to another or damage to another’s property.
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Torts Resulting From Negligence
A person bringing a lawsuit for negligence must prove certain elements:
The defendant had a legal duty to act carefully.
The defendant breached the duty to act carefully.
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Torts Resulting From Negligence
The defendant’s failure to act carefully proximately caused the plaintiff’s (person suing) injury.
The defendant’s negligence caused the plaintiff to suffer physical injury or damage.
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Malpractice
Malpractice: professional’s improper or immoral conduct in performing duties done intentionally or through carelessness or ignorance.
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Defenses to Negligence
Contributory negligence: defense that injured party’s negligence led to injury.
Comparative negligence: comparing the negligence of the injured party and the one being sued.
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Defenses to Negligence
Assumption of risk: defense against people who voluntarily expose themselves to a risk of harm, suffer an injury, and then sue.
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Strict Liability in Tort
Strict liability: legal responsibility for harm done to another even when there is no proof of fault on the part of the party that caused the harm.
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Cyber Torts
Cyber Torts: wrongful acts causing personal injury or damage committed on the Internet.
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Online Defamation
Defamation laws are enforceable in the virtual world just as they are in the real world.
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Online Privacy
Very personal information has become a valuable commodity.
Employers’ rights to view employees’ email.
Eavesdropping on cellular phone conversations.
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Remedies for Torts
Damages: money paid by a defendant to a successful plaintiff in civil cases to compensate the plaintiff for his or her injuries.
Compensatory damages: actual measurable damages.
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Remedies for Torts
Punitive damages: damages imposed upon a wrongdoer as punishment for intentionally committing a wrongful act.
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Tort Litigation Reform
Easy money in injury lawsuits is gone.
Steps have even been taken in many states to scale back on how much people bringing lawsuits can recover.
Caps on damages for plaintiffs.
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