Tort Law, Part One
_________ is defined as written defamation.
Libel
In agency law, the agent must follow all reasonable instructions given by the principal. This is the duty of:
Obedience
______ is the part of risk management that involves identifying the probability and severity of an injury.
Risk evaluation
A contract clause that expressly specifies the amount of damages in the event of a breach is known as a:
Liquidated damages clause
The risks of sustaining a severe injury while playing football is open and obvious, even if participants are not explicitly told that the activity is dangerous. This is _________ assumption of risk.
Implied.
How are civil assault and civil battery different?
Assault is a threat, battery is offensive (or harmful) touching.
In an agency relationship, the agent must act solely and completely for the benefit of the principal. This is the duty of:
Duty of loyalty
In risk management, if no action is taken to address the risk, this is:
Retention
Certain contracts, including for sales of land, goods >$500, and contracts that cannot be carried out in one year, must be in writing and signed under a legal concept known as the:
Statute of Frauds
True or False: in order to be liable for intentional infliction of emotional distress, the defendant must engage in extreme and outrageous conduct and the distressed caused by that conduct must be severe.
True.
The Hee-Man Company, a firm in the business of making weightlifting equipment, wishes to institute a new advertising campaign. In it is a photograph of Joe Smith, a student at UW-Whitewater, with the caption "With Hee-Man weights, I am a true athlete." Hee-Man did not secure permission from Smith. If Smith sues, which is the best basis for the lawsuit?
Invasion to right of privacy - appropriation of one's name/image/likeness.
In an agency relationship _________ is any written or oral communication that grants the agent authority to perform an act.
Express authority
Making participants sign a waiver before participating is an example of which risk management action?
Risk transfer
The University of Michigan breaches a contract with the University of Miami to play a game in Miami. Miami could have made $50,000 in profits from the sale of concessions at the event. In a lawsuit, what kind of damages would Miami likely seek against Michigan?
Compensatory damages
How do the standards of proof differ between civil and criminal law?
Preponderance of evidence (more likely than not) vs. beyond a reasonable doubt
Which of the following torts is being committed if I say something about you that, while not exactly a lie, insinuates something untrue about you?
Tort of invasion of privacy by false light.
If a principal engages an agent to form a contract, and the principal was fully disclosed, and the principal breaches the contract, who would be liable for the damages.
Principal only.
An athletic director decides that repairs to bring her facility's aging pool up to industry standards are prohibitively expensive. As a result, the AD closes the pool to avoid the risk of injuries and lawsuits. This risk management action is:
Avoidance
True or false: under contract law, a promise not to do something can be an acceptable form of consideration.
In this case there would be a mutuality of obligation. Promising not to act is forbearance.
A shoe salesman tells customers that they shouldn't buy a particular brand of shoe because it is manufactured in such a way as to be damaging to the knee. This is false and the salesman knows it is false; he is trying to direct customers toward a more profitable brand. Manufacturers of the shoe brand he is steering people away from would most likely sue him for the intentional tort of:
Slander (potentially disparagement of property - slander of quality)
List and describe the four elements of ordinary negligence which the plaintiff must prove in order to be successful.
Duty, breach, causation, damages
Describe the agent's fiduciary duty toward the principal.
-Fiduciary duty arises where a unique degree of trust and confidence is expected between parties based on one of the parties’ “superior knowledge, skill, or expertise.” The agency relationship is a fiduciary relationship between one person – the agent – who agrees to act for and under the direction and control of another – the principal.
How might one identify risks which pose the potential to cause injury and initiate lawsuits?
Common sense, peers, industry standards
Coach X has a three year contract with Ames University. After the first year, he breaches the contract and accepts an offer to coach Brook University for five years for a greater sum of money. Could Ames university seek the remedy of specific performance?
No. They would likely seek a negative injunction.
True or False: A coach receives a phone call from a disgruntled former player who now lives in another state. That player threatens to beat the coach with a baseball bat. The threat constitutes civil assault.
With civil assault, the threat has to create reasonable apprehension of immediate harmful or offensive contact. Since the former player lives so far away, it could be argued that the threat is not immediate.