Chpt 3 Tort

Tort Law: 

Tort Law Chapter 3 p. 53 1

So, What Is a Tort?: 

So, What Is a Tort? Nope. These are tortes. 2

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A far less formal definition of a tort is 1. All the crazy stuff that you can possibly imagine happening to a person. 5 Tort

Torts: Fact or Fiction? : 

Torts: Fact or Fiction? Raise your hand if you think the following actually happened: A woman sued a doctor for malpractice because he invited his friend to watch him deliver her baby. 2. A woman sued a railroad company because scales fell on her on a railroad platform. A railroad worker had helped a young man, who happened to be carrying a bundle of fireworks, jump onto a moving train. While jumping on the train the young man dropped his package, which caused the explosion that caused the scales to fall. 6

Fact or Fiction: 

Fact or Fiction A woman sued a cab company when a cab without a driver hit her. The driver had jumped from the moving cab to escape a robber who had pointed a gun to the driver’s head. A construction worker sued his employer for injuries sustained when he was hit by an out-of-control car and thrown nearly 100 feet into a vat of boiling tar. The construction site had not been properly cordoned off. 7

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Crime is a wrong committed against the public good Tort is a wrong committed against a particular person or property . 8 Criminal Law VS Tort Law

Criminal Law VS Tort Law : 

Criminal Law VS Tort Law Torts are considered a civil wrong. However, sometimes a tort is also a crime. Assault is both a tort and a crime because it not only hurts an individual, but poses a threat to all members of society. 9

Criminal Law VS Tort Law : 

Criminal Law VS Tort Law Example: Slander is a tort but not a crime because it hurts only an individual and does not threaten society in general . 10

Criminal Law VS Tort Law : 

Criminal Law VS Tort Law Purpose of tort law: Compensate victim for injuries caused Court makes tortfeasor pay for damages Damages may be awarded for: Pain and suffering Pay medical expenses Replace/repair damaged property Pay for lost wages Punitive damages (Damages awarded over and above special and general damages to punish a losing party's willful or malicious misconduct) 11

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Intentional Unintentional 12 Torts are classified as:

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Assault and Battery: 

Assault and Battery 2 separate torts Can be committed together or by themselves 15

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Occurs when an individual threatens to harm an innocent person using words, gestures, or both. Assault occurs as soon as a person is afraid of immediate harm to your body. 16 Assault

Assault : 

Assault A threat to harm is not an assault; however, a threat combined with a raised fist might be sufficient if it causes a reasonable apprehension of harm in the victim. 17

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Unlawful touching of another person Contact does not have to be harmful Also, touching something close associated with a person’s body 18 Battery

Battery: 

Battery Defenses to battery include lack of intent (such as an accident), defense of others or property, or self-defense. 19

Battery: 

Battery Example: Pulling a chair out from under someone before the person sits down is committing a battery 20

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False Imprisonment: 

False Imprisonment Example: A security guard in a store must have reasonable grounds to suspect shoplifting before they stop a customer. Must hold in a reasonable way Only for a reasonable time 22

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Libel: 

Libel Lies about a person in: Written printed Recorded form Includes: TV shows Magazine stories Web sites E-mails 24

Libel Suits: 

Libel Suits Movie Stars Athletes Politicians Supreme Court ruled that public figures must prove that lies about them are told with actual malice. The person who published the lie knew it was a lie and published it anyway or thought the lie was true but did a poor job checking out the facts. 25

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Invasion of Privacy: 

Invasion of Privacy If you deal with confidential records with your job, you need to be careful who you share information with. A doctor may share information about a patient with a nurse they are taking care of. However, the same doctor cannot let an outsider see or share information to outside people of no interest. 27

Invasion of Privacy: 

Invasion of Privacy Taking someone's picture or using someone's name without permission and using it for advertising, publicity, or marketing purposes is invasion of privacy. 28

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Example:: 

Example: One may falsely convince another person that a close family member has died. Today, you can sue for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Distress must be caused by extreme and outrageous conduct. 30

Intentional Torts Against Property: 

Intentional Torts Against Property Most common: trespass Conversion Nuisance disparagement 31

Trespass: 

Trespass Is interfering with somebody’s real property. Real property is land and things that are attached permanently. Tree House Minerals oils 32

Conversion: 

Conversion Interfering with a person’s right to personal property. If you lend your cell phone to your friend and your friend never returns it, your friend has converted your property to his or her own and interfered with your right of ownership. 33

Nuisance: 

Nuisance Anything that interferes with the enjoyment of property. Loud music at night Foul odors Fumes coming from a nearby house Private nuisance – nuisance affects only one person or household Public nuisance – affects a lot of people 34

Disparagement: 

Disparagement Lies about objects Can be about quality or ownership Ex: You are trying to sell your used car, which is in excellent condition, to a friend and someone claims your car is defective, that person has committed disparagement. In court, you must prove that you actually lost money as a result of the lie. 35

Negligence and Liability: 

Negligence and Liability Section 3.2 p. 60 36

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Elements of Negligence: 

Elements of Negligence To succeed in a tort suit for negligence, the plaintiff must prove all of the following: The defendant: owed the plaintiff a duty of care Breached that duty by being careless Carelessness was the proximate cause of harm The plaintiff was really hurt by the defendant's carelessness Must prove all elements!! 38

Negligence Video clip: 

Negligence Video clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6ynTbY944Q 39

Question: 

Question Can you think of a situation in which you may have unintentionally caused an accident or an injury to another person or to property. How were you negligent? 40

Duty of Care: 

Duty of Care Every person has certain rights in our society All of us have the duty to not violate these rights. This concept is extremely important in negligence lawsuits. When plaintiffs cannot prove that the defendants owed a duty of care ( The obligation to use a reasonable standard of care to prevent injury to others ) the judge will throw out the case. 41

Duty of care: 

Duty of care duty of care - the defendant should have been looking out for someone like the plaintiff standard of care - the defendant did not take all reasonable steps to prevent the plaintiff’s injury 42

EXAMPLE OF DUTY OF CARE: 

EXAMPLE OF DUTY OF CARE In which of the following situations was a duty of care breached? Why not the other one? Situation 1: A teacher is supervising a volleyball game in which one of the students suffers a serious knee injury. Situation 2: A teacher plans a science lab in which students are exposed to a poisonous chemical and become ill. 43

Duty of care: 

Duty of care Professionals are often held to a higher standard of duty of care than those who are not. What kind of duty of care is expected from a health care professional? Medical knowledge and skills necessary to treat the patient and use reasonable medical judgment 44

4 element of negligence: 

4 element of negligence 45

Duty of care: 

Duty of care if you ran a stop sign, which then caused the other driver to drive into a ditch, you would owe that driver a duty of care. 46

Breach of Duty: 

Breach of Duty Landowners owe a duty to exercise reasonable care to protect persons on their property from foreseeable harm, even if those persons are trespassers. If you are aware of a weak step or a faucet that dispenses only scalding hot water, for example, you must take steps to warn guests about those known dangers. 47

Proximate Cause: 

Proximate Cause In determining whether proximate cause exists, we once again use the foreseeability test, already used for determining whether duty exists. If an injury is foreseeable, then proximate cause exists. If it is unforeseeable, then it does not. 48

Actual Harm: 

Actual Harm Victim must suffer an injury, have property destroyed, or lose a lot of money. Without actual harm, even the biggest mistake will not result in negligence. 49

negligence: 

negligence Mike jogs in the city park every morning. In this park the sprinkler system is often left running during the night because of a bad timer. This morning, a stream of mid covers the path, and Mike slips, falls, and sprains his ankle. He sues the city for negligence. Are the elements of negligence evident in this case? If so, what are they? If not, what is missing? 50

Defenses to negligence: 

Defenses to negligence Contributory negligence Comparative negligence Assumption of risk 51

Contributory Negligence: 

Contributory Negligence If the defendant can prove that the victim did something that helped cause the injury than the plaintiff loses the case. 52

Comparative Negligence: 

Comparative Negligence Damages based on the negligence of every party Protects plaintiffs because they can still collect damages even if they were careless. In PA, Comparative Negligence statute states that when a plaintiff is guilty of contributory negligence and that negligence was not greater than the defendant's negligence, the plaintiff's damages will be diminished in proportion to his negligence in causing the accident. 53

Assumption of Risk: 

Assumption of Risk When the plaintiff knew of the risk involved and still took the chance of being injured. People who are injured while participating in extreme sports may also be unable to bring lawsuits for negligence. Example: Bungee jumping Jumping out of an airplane 54

Assumption of risk ???: 

Assumption of risk ??? Ronda begged Mark for a ride home from school, even though she knew he had been ticketed for speeding and reckless driving on several occasions. On the way home there was an accident, and Ronda’s leg was broken. If she were to sue Mark for negligence, do you think Mark should claim assumption of risk as a dense? 55

Assumption of risk: 

Assumption of risk To claim assumption of risk, Mark must prove that Ronda knew of his reckless driving record and still took the chance of being injured. 56

Case Study: 

Case Study Read Case study on p. 64 in book Liebeck v McDonald’s 57

Case Study: 

Case Study Jury awarded Ms. Liebeck $160,000 in actual damages and $2.7 million punitive damages. (designed to punish wrongdoer) McDonald’s served it coffee between 180 & 190 degrees. At 190 degrees, it takes less than 3 seconds for a 3 rd degree burn to occur. In the decade prior to Ms. Liebeck’s case, McDonald’s had received over 700 reports of burns from its coffee, setting most of the cases at a cost of $500,000. McDonald’s also admits it never warned its customers that the coffee was extremely hot. 58

Strict liability: 

Strict liability Who is liable if you are injured by a faulty product? If you keep a pet rattlesnake in a shoe box and it escapes and bites somebody, you are liable no matter how careful you were when you placed the rattler in the box. Strict liability says that some activities are so dangerous that liability will always follow any injury that results from those activities. 59

Strict liability: 

Strict liability This rule applies only to ultrahazardous activities. These activities involve great risk to people and property. The risk is so great that no amount of care will eliminate it. Using explosives and keeping wild animals as pets are both in this category. 60

Product liability: 

Product liability Defective products Both the firm that manufactured the product & the seller are liable for injuries. Fault does not matter. Do you think if a person sustains injury due to a product defect and decides to sue, that the injured party is required to prove negligence? NO 61

Limits to Product Liability: 

Limits to Product Liability Does not apply to the seller of the defective product does not usually sell such an item. Does not apply if the only damage done by the product is damage to the product itself. Ex: A corporation that auctions off machinery is not liable for an injury caused by a defect . 62

qUESTION: 

qUESTION Companies often issue product recalls when they discover product defects that may be potentially hazardous to consumers. Can you think of any recent product recalls? If so, what was the defect? 63

Warning labels: 

Warning labels http://stosselintheclassroom.org/index.php?p=onsite.php&url=http://cdn.abcnews.com/stossel/free/GMAB_LABELS.wmv 64

Tort Reform Survival Statutes: 

Tort Reform Survival Statutes If the injured party in a lawsuit dies, what happens to the lawsuit? In the past, under common law, when an injured person died, the right to sue also died. Most states now have survival statues that say a lawsuit can continue even if both the plaintiff and the defendant die. 65

Tort Reform Wrongful Death Statutes: 

Tort Reform Wrongful Death Statutes If a person dies due to injury caused by negligence, a family member can sue for damages. 66

summary: 

summary Under tort law, all people are entitled to certain rights because they are members of our society. The major torts committed against people are: Assault Battery False imprisonment Defamation Invasion of privacy Intentional infliction of emotional distress 67

summary: 

summary Major intentional torts property: Trespass Conversion Nuisance disparagement 68

summary: 

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summary: 

summary Defenses of negligence: Contributory negligence Comparative negligence Assumption of risk 70

Assignment: 

Assignment Section 3.2 questions #1 – 3 on page 65 71

Source Cited: 

Source Cited by Greg Albert and Miles E. Hawks 72