Intentional Torts
What are the two elements of Battery?
1. he acts intending to cause a harmful or offensive contact with the person of the other or a third person, or an imminent apprehension of such contact, and
2. a harmful contact with the person of the other directly or indirectly results
What are the three categories of Landowner Duties?
1. Invitee
2. Licensee
3. Trespassor
When does the learned hand formula indicate negligence?
B<PL
What are the two types of causation that the Plaintiff has to prove in a negligence claim?
1. Factual Cause
2. Proximate Cause
What is the zone of danger rule (for a Plaintiff not bystander)?
Plaintiff may recover for emotional distress (and resulting physical injury) if:
1. Plaintiff was within the zone of danger created by defendant’s negligence;
2. Plaintiff feared imminent physical impact to self.
16-year-old Mitchy was taking part in a scavenger hunt at Camp Rock. Her list required her to find a pinecone. She walked through what she believed was a public forest preserve in search of a pinecone. It turns out that she was actually walking through land owned by Camp Star. Is Camp Star likely to succeed if they sue Mitchy for trespass to land?
Yes, even though Mitchy was mistaken about the ownership.
What are the five elements under the Attractive Nuisance Doctrine?
A landowner is liable for injuries to child trespassers caused by an artificial condition where:
What does the Plaintiff have to prove when arguing negligence per se?
Tony Stark (Iron Man) is testing a new flying suit in a crowded park. He sees that the wind is strong but decides to continue anyway. Peter Parker (Spider-Man) is walking through the park, texting on his phone and not paying attention. Iron Man loses control and accidentally collides with Spider-Man, who breaks his leg. Under the old-common law rule of contributory negligence, can Spider Man recover from Iron Man?
Spider-Man may be barred from recovery. Spider-Man was texting and not paying attention while walking through a crowded park, which contributed to his injury. At common law, any fault on the part of the plaintiff that contributes to the accident completely bars recovery, even if the defendant was negligent. Therefore, Spider-Man’s own negligence likely prevents him from recovering damages from Iron Man.
What are the five ways of confinement under false imprisonment?
1. Physical Barrier (lock in a room)
2. Physical Force (bear hugging someone so they can't get away)
3. Physical Threat ("if you leave the room, I'll shoot you")
4. False Assertion of Legal Authority (falsely asserting the right to detain)
5. Other unspecified means of duress ("if you leave the room, I'll shoot your cat")
Rick and Morty were on one of their adventures when Rick's portal gun misfired and sent Summer to a post-apocalyptic dimension, where she broke her arm fighting off aliens. Did Rick owe Summer a duty of care?
Yes. Rick's portal gun created the risk of harm. Therefore, Rick owed Summer a reasonable duty of care—an example of misfeasance.
Phineas and Ferb build a homemade zip line stretching across their backyard. Before using it, they tell their friends to wear helmets and test the harness for safety. When the group is ready to ride, Ferb notices the harness on the zip line is frayed, but Phineas decides it will “probably hold” and allows Isabella to go first. The harness snaps mid-ride, and Isabella falls, breaking her arm. Did Phineas and Ferb breach their duty of care to the guest?
Yes. They breached their duty of reasonable care to Isabella. Using B<PL the burden of inspecting and replacing the harness is lower than the probability of someone falling due to the frayed harness and losses that Isabella suffered.
Yes, under the theory of Alternative Liability. When it is unclear which perosn created the harm but all actors were negligent, the burden shifts to the defendants to prove that they were not the cause of the harm.
What is the "Equal to or Greater Than" Rule with Aggregation permitted (North Dakota's Modified Comparative Fault)?
Plaintiff is barred from recovery if their negligence is equal to or greater than defendant's combined negligence. Fault of multiple defendants may be aggregated.
Example: D was 45% negligent, C was 40% negligent, B was 10% negligent, and A was 5 % negligent. D's damages are $100,000 therefore D can recover $55,00 as C+B+A were collectively 55% negligent.
Harry and Marv planned to break into the McCalister's house. Little did they know Kevin was home alone and ready to protect his home. Kevin rigged the door with a flamethrower that would ignite when it was opened. Harry opened the door and, upon entering, the flamethrower ignited, burning his hat and hair clean off. Harry suffered from 3rd degree burns.
Was Kevin privileged in using the flamethrower to protect his home?
No. Under Restatement S 84, the use of mechanical devices that are likely to cause death or serious bodily harm does not preclude liability. A person is only privileged to use non-deadly devices that are reasonable necessary to protect property, reasonable under the circumstances, devise is customary or actor gives reasonable warning to probably intruders.
What are 4 exceptions to nonfeasance?
1. Volunteer exception - The defendant, while under no legal duty to do so, volunteered to act for the protection of another and now must exercise reasonable care (Good Samaritan doctrine/voluntary undertaking)
2. Prior conduct exception - Defendant's prior conduct (while not necessarily negligent) put P in harms way which can create a duty to exercise reaonable care for that person's protection.
3. Relationship with the victim exception - The nature of the defendant's relationship with the victim is one where the court's have imposed a duty of care to the victim to exercise reasonable care
4. Relationship with the perpetrator exception - The nature of the defendant's relarionship with the perpetrator is one where the court's have imposed a duty of care to those who may be harmed by the perpetrator.
Abby Lee Miller owns and operates the Abby Lee Dance Studio. During a rehearsal, Maddie is practicing a solo on the studio’s main stage while Abby supervises from the front of the room. Without warning, a large mirror mounted on the studio wall detaches and falls onto the floor next to Maddie, shattering and causing shards of glass to cut her leg. There is no evidence that Maddie or any other dancer touched or tampered with the mirror before it fell. Can Maddie prove that Abby Lee Miller breached her duty of care?
Yes, under Res Ipsa Loquitor.
1. The mirror would not have fallen without being negligently hung or secured to the wall.
2. The mirror was also under exclusive control of the ALDC.
3. Maddie did not contribute to the accident
What is the eggshell plaintiff rule?
Defendant takes the plaintiff as found. If negligence aggravates a pre-existing condition and increases damages, the defendant is liable so long as the general type of harm was foreseeable.
During a search in the Upside Down, Steve Harrington carelessly triggers a collapsing ceiling. Mike Wheeler, who is ahead, narrowly escapes being trapped under debris. Nancy Wheeler, who sees Mike nearly crushed, experiences severe emotional trauma, including panic attacks and nightmares, even though she is not physically harmed. Can Nancy recover for negligent infliction of emotional distress?
Yes. Nancy witnessed Mike nearly being crushed due to Steve’s negligence and suffered severe emotional distress. Because the harm was foreseeable and Nacy is closely related to the victim, she can recover for negligent infliction of emotional distress.
The Grinch was tired of the Whos and their Christmas whovilations. He decided he was going to steal Christmas. With the help of his dog Max, the Grinch crept into Cindy Lou Who's house at night and stole their Christmas tree and took the tree to the top of Mount Crumpit. The Grinch had a change of heart and decided he was going to return the Christmas tree, but as he was about to return to Whoville, the tree fell off his sleigh and off the mountain. What intentional torts has the Grinch Committed
Trespass to Land
1. Intent to enter land
2. Entry onto another's land
3. No permission
Conversion
1. Intentional exercise of dominion
2. Serious interferes with the ownership
3. Control inconsistent with Who's rights
Possibly Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (Cause who would steal a Christmas Tree from Cindy Lou Who)
Sharpay and Ryan are rehearsing their award-winning routine of "Bop to the Top" in the East High Auditorium. While they were dancing on stage, a stage light fell from the rafters and landed on Sharpay's foot. Ms. Darbus, the school drama teacher, rushes to the main office to call for an ambulance, but she is distracted when she hears Troy Bolton singing in the gym. Sharpay does not recieve any medical attention and she suffers from a broken foot and is unable to preform in the spring musical. Sharpay sues East High for negligence. Did East High owe Sharpay a duty of care?
Two duties of care were owed to Sharpay.
1. Landowner - Invitee - someone on the land for a purpose connected with the landowner's business or that confers a material benefit, as Sharpay advances the school's educational and extracurricular mission.
2. Nonfeasance - Special Relationships- School with Student so the school had a duty to aid
Clark Griswold decorates his house with an extensive Christmas light display. A local fire safety ordinance requires all outdoor electrical displays to use outdoor-rated extension cords and expressly prohibits the use of frayed or damaged wiring. The ordinance states that its purpose is to prevent electrical fires and protect pedestrians and neighbors from injury.
Despite being aware of the ordinance, Clark uses old indoor extension cords with visible fraying to power the display. When Clark turns on the lights, the cords overheat and cause an electrical fire. The fire spreads to the sidewalk area in front of the house and injures Todd, a neighbor who was watching the display from his house next door. Can Todd prove that Clark breached a duty of care?
Yes, Clark breached his duty of care. By using frayed indoor extension cords in violation of a local fire safety ordinance requiring outdoor-rated cords, Clark violated a statute designed to prevent electrical fires and protect neighbors like Todd. Because Todd is within the class the ordinance protects and suffered the type of harm it was meant to prevent, Clark’s violation constitutes negligence per se, establishing breach.
One Direction is rehearsing for a charity concert at an outdoor park. Liam Payne organizes the rehearsal area and places several large speakers near the edge of the stage. Despite warnings from staff that the speakers are not secured and the ground is uneven, Liam decides to proceed with rehearsal to stay on schedule.
During practice, a sudden loud feedback noise startles Zayn Malik, who instinctively jumps backward and bumps into one of the unsecured speakers. The speaker tips over, rolls off the stage area, and strikes Louis Tomlinson, who is walking behind the stage, causing Louis to suffer a concussion.
Louis sues Liam for negligence. Does Zayn's startled reaction constitute a superseeing intervening cause that breaks the chain of proximate causation, or was Louis's injury a foreseeable result of Liam's conduct?
Liam may still be liable. Liam’s negligence in placing unsecured speakers on uneven ground created a foreseeable risk that someone could be injured. Although Zayn’s startled reaction was an intervening act, it was not extraordinary or unforeseeable—startled reactions to loud noise are the type of risks Liam created. Therefore, Zayn’s action does not break the chain of proximate causation, and Louis’s injury is likely within the scope of the risk created by Liam’s negligence.
In a negligence suit in the Kardashian family, Kim was found to be 45% negligent, Khole was found to be 40% negligent, Kris was found to be 10% negligent, and Rob was 5% negligent. Under the Wisconsin's comparative fault, if P's fault is greater than D's than recovery is barred. Aggreation is also barred. If Khloe's damages are 100,000, how much can she recover from Kim, Kris, and Rob?
From Kim: Khloe 40% < Kim's 45% = $45,000
From Kris: Khloe's 40% > Kris' 10% = $0
From Rob: Khloe's 40% > Rob's 5% = $0