Intentional Torts
A boy decided to pick on the new kid at his school. As the new kid was walking home from school, the boy shouted insults at him about the new kid's eyeglasses and threatened to beat him up “someday soon.” For the next two weeks, the new kid went to school every day afraid that he would be physically harmed, but he never was. Nevertheless, the new kid began having frequent nightmares and developed a chronic upset stomach.
What torts, if any, did the boy likely commit?
What is, no intentional tort?
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Who is likely to prevail in a battery action aginst Joplin and why?
Joplin had no duty to retreat and reasonably believed Rugrat threatened his life.
An electrician went to a home to install a ceiling fan. Posted near the home’s front door was a sign stating, “BEWARE OF DOG.” The homeowner let the electrician into the house, where there was no sign of a dog. The electrician inquired about the warning sign, stating that she would not work in a home with dogs. The homeowner, who had been attempting to hire an electrician for months, lied and responded that he had posted the sign to deter solicitors. In fact, there was a dog in the home. The homeowner led the electrician to the bedroom where she was to install the fan, and the homeowner left the room. The electrician installed the fan and was gathering up her equipment when the homeowner's dog charged into the room, lunged at the electrician, and bit her on the leg multiple times, causing significant injury. The homeowner believes that his “beware of dog” sign protects him from a negligence action by the electrician.
Is the homeowner correct?
No, because the homeowner’s warning was not effective.
A 72-year-old retiree with limited driving experience decides to drive at night for the first time in years. He collides with another vehicle after failing to yield at an intersection, claiming that “driving at night is hard for me because of my age.”
What standard of care applies?
What is The Reasonable Prudent Driver? (age is not a excuse).
A teenager was jaywalking across a busy street while texting on her phone. The phone slipped from the teenager's hands onto the street. As the teenager bent down to pick up her phone, she was startled by a car horn honking. The teenager stood up abruptly as the car narrowly avoided her. However, the car ran over the teenager's phone, crushing it.
is the teenager likely to be able to successfully raise a negligence claim against the driver?
No, no evidence the driver was negligent
A woman suffered from delusions which rendered her insane. Despite suffering from a mental illness, she was able to engage in some daily activities and enjoyed riding a bicycle around the neighborhood. During one such ride, she experienced a delusion that distracted her and caused her to slam into a pedestrian. The pedestrian suffered a broken arm, which also affected his livelihood, and he sued the woman for battery.
On the issue of the requisite state of mind to establish battery, which party will prevail and why?
What is the woman, because she did not INTEND to hit the pedestrian?
Easley is a commerical cultivator of roses. A path through some of his plants, on his property, has become a kind of informal shortcut for children headed from middle school. Easley was aware of this, but is upset the children stepped on his roses.
Who would prevail in an actual of trepass of chattel and land, why?
If they intentionally stepped on roses, Easley would prevail.
Since Easley knew about the trespass to land and never told them to leave, this acts as implied consent. He will not prevail here.
A builder was building a house in a state that had not had a tornado in 100 years. Due to that fact, the builder decided not to use special roofing nails that were rated to withstand the most severe tornado winds. The special nails would have added $100 to the total cost of the project. The homeowner moved into the house after it was built. A few weeks later, a tornado struck, the nails failed, and the roof was destroyed. The homeowner sued the builder for negligent construction of the roof.
On the issue of breach, the builder is only likely to prevail if the court weighs which of the following factors most heavily?
The probability of harm from the builder’s conduct.
A 12-year-old who has grown up on a farm operates a tractor on the property. While driving it, he accidentally injures a visiting delivery worker. His lawyer argues that “he’s just a kid.”
What standard of care applies?
What is inherently dangerous activity?
What is Reasonably Prudent tractor operator?
(he is a kid engaged in an inherently dangerous activity so held to objective standard not subjective)
e went to her doctor and was told she would need minor surgery. Her doctor sent her to see Dr. Sue. Dr. Sue was going to do the surgery. The surgery was done in the morning, and Jane remained in the hospital for 3 days. After that, Jane went home. Jane was supposed to report back to the doctor on a regular basis and she did so. Jane was worried about the surgery because it did not appear to heal. The surgery location remained red, swollen, and oozing fluid. After about 4 weeks, Dr. Sue suggested that maybe they ought to reopen the surgery location and take a look. Upon reopening the surgery location, Dr. Sue discovered that a surgery sponge had been left inside Jane’s body. The sponge was removed and the surgery closed. After the removal of the sponge, the surgery location healed promptly and properly. Jane would like to bring an action against Dr. Sue. Although the surgery finally healed properly, Jane wants to recover for the additional missed work and pain and suffering of the extended recovery time. Who would prevail and why?
Jane would likely succeed under the doctrine of res ispa because the sponge was in the doctor's exclusive control and it does not occur without negligence.
A supervisor frequently teased an employee because of his weight, and used an unflattering nickname for him, in front of colleagues in the workplace. The teasing caused the employee to become depressed and to seek psychological counseling.
In an action for intentional infliction of emotional distress, which of the following facts is likely to be most helpful to the employee on the issue of whether the supervisor’s teasing amounted to extreme and outrageous conduct?
What is, the fact that the supervisor was in a position of authority over the employee?
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A jogger saw a pedestrian step into a crosswalk while the light was green for cross traffic. A motorcycle was fast approaching the crosswalk, and the jogger rushed up to the pedestrian and forcefully pulled him back, out of the way of traffic, just before the motorcycle was about to hit him. In the process, the jogger dislocated the pedestrian’s shoulder. The pedestrian sued the jogger for battery.
What is the best basis for the jogger’s defense?
What is, consent implied in law?
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A nine-year-old child had lived in foster care since she was five years old. The child had a mental disability that impaired her verbal abilities, but she could perform math at a high-school level. The child engaged in negligent conduct at a playground that resulted in a seven-year-old child being hurt severely. The seven-year-old child's parents sued the nine-year-old child for negligence.
In the negligence lawsuit, which of the following attributes of the nine-year-old child, if any, may NOT be considered in determining the appropriate standard of care to evaluate the child's conduct?
None; all the child's attributes will be considered relevant to determining the standard of care.
A man with a prosthetic leg decides to run across a wet grocery store floor instead of walking cautiously. He slips and collides with another customer, injuring them. He claims “I can’t be expected to move like people with two natural legs.”
What standard of care applies?
What is Reasonable prudent person with a prosthetic leg?
A store advertised a sale in which a much-anticipated new gaming system would be sold the day before the system was scheduled to be released elsewhere, and at half its regular price, to the first 50 shoppers who checked out that day. On the day of the sale, there were hundreds of people waiting for the store to open, and when the doors opened, the shoppers all ran to the electronics department in an effort to get the gaming system and be one of the first 50 shoppers to buy it. One of the shoppers was injured in the rush of people.In a subsequent action by the shopper against the store, the store introduced evidence that this kind of sale was widely offered by retail stores throughout the county, and that the store had followed all the security procedures generally employed for these types of sales.
What effect will this evidence have on the court’s instructions to the jury regarding the standard of care?
The jury will be instructed that it may consider the evidence of procedures and custom in determining what level of care was reasonable.
Intending to play a prank on her roommate, a woman rigged both the roommate’s bedroom door and the bedroom’s window so that they could not be opened from the inside. Unknown to the woman, the roommate had been kidnapped as a child. Thus, after the roommate discovered that she could not exit the room and had been trapped inside the room for hours before the woman finally opened the door from the outside, the experience of being confined triggered a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) response. The roommate continued to suffer mental and physical PTSD symptoms for months after the prank. The roommate decided to sue the woman for both false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED).
Which of the roommate's claims, if either, is likely to succeed?
Only False Imprisonment
Dave sincerely believed that people who claimed to have allergies were faking or exaggerating. When Dave heard Marta talk about her peanut allergy, he naturally insisted that it was all nonsense and not a real health threat. In fact, Marta did have a severe peanut allergy that could quickly bring about anaphylactic shock and cause her to stop breathing unless she received an immediate shot of medicine. Dave tried to force Marta to eat a peanut to prove it was all a fake, and Marta kept backing away. Finally Dave, who was getting angry, said he would shove the peanut up Marta’s nose to prove there was no problem. Dave grabbed Marta, and Marta pulled a gun from her purse and shot Dave. If Dave sues Marta for battery who will prevail?
Marta will prevail because she had the privilege of self Defense.
A woman possessed extraordinary strength but significantly below-average intelligence. The woman worked at a job that required her to manually unload very heavy pipes from a delivery truck.
Which of the following best describes the standard of care that the woman owes to people who could foreseeably be injured if she were negligent in the performance of this work?
The care that would be used by a reasonable, prudent person of average intelligence with the woman’s strength.
A specialist surgeon performs a highly complex heart operation using a technique that most general surgeons do not know, but that is commonly adopted among cardiac specialists. The patient suffers complications and sues.
Which standard of care applies?
What is Reasonable prudent cardiac surgeon with ordinary skill and knowledge in that specialty.
(not held to general practitioner standard the specialty matters).
You have visiting a friend's ranch and you step in cow s***, ruining your new pair of $10k fancy boots (assume no way to clean them, they are destroyed). Is the friend liable for the destruction of the boots?
No, res ispa does not apply because this is not an unusual circumstance at a ranch.
A man’s neighbor loaned the man a pickup truck so that the man could deliver a sofa to his daughter. While en route to his daughter’s home, the man negligently ran a red light, causing an accident that totaled the pickup truck. The neighbor sued the man for conversion.
Is the neighbor likely to prevail in this action and why?
No, because the man was the rightful possessor of the pickup truck at the time of the accident.
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Mother gave a school permission to discipline her child with whatever the school viewed as necessary. The first time the child was spanked hard 3 times. The second time the child had to do a law school cold call. The third time they were deprived lunch until 3 pm. At what point, if any, was the school not privileged?
Law school buddies Adam and Eve scaled a construction fence intending to play a prank by spray-painting one of the construction vehicles. While on the construction site, Adam gell and hit the ground hard, knocking himself out. Seeing this Eve ran away because she didn't want to be caught. She did not report the accident, and Adam was not discovered until the next morning, when a construction worker found him on the ground. By that time, Adam had suffered additional injury from exposure. Adam has brought an action against Eve for negligence, claiming that she should have assisted him. Who would prevail in this claim and why?
In absence of this duty, even cannot be held liable to Adam.
Q&A 41.
Dr. Lee, a 45-year-old orthopedic surgeon, has unusually keen eyesight and hand–eye coordination, which make him an exceptional surgeon. He also has well-controlled Type 1 diabetes that occasionally causes sudden drops in blood sugar if he skips meals. His physician warned him that these episodes are manageable but foreseeable if he ignores precautions.
One night, after performing back-to-back emergency surgeries, Dr. Lee volunteers to drive a hospital shuttle van to help evacuate patients during a citywide power outage. Exhausted and having missed dinner, he nevertheless assures hospital staff that he is “fine to drive.”
Midway through the trip, Dr. Lee experiences a blood sugar crash, briefly loses consciousness, and swerves the van into a parked car, injuring two patients.
What standard of care applies? What defenses could apply?
What is another possible tangential issue relating to the patients....
(double points if all issues are addressed)
Standard of care:
What is reasonable prudent diabetic driver?
(professional status probably doesn't come into play...)
Defenses:
What is not foreseeable?
What is public necessity?
(reasonable diabetic driver under emergency conditions)
One saturday, Lawrence took his daughter Naomi, age 6, to an amusement park owned by Amuse Co to rude the carousel. Naomi climbed onto one of the wooden horses, and Lawrence attached the little safety belt around her waist. Naomi was the only ride on the carousel. Lawrence then stood at the side of the horse to Naomi in case she needed help. The music started and the carousel began to turn slowly. Instead of settling in at a constant rate of speed, the carousel continued accelerating. The carousel reached a speed of more than twice the rate it had reached the same day. Naomi was thrown from her horse onto the spinning platform, breaking her leg. Naomi brings an action against AmuseCo for negligence. She offers in evidence the facts just stated, and then rests. AmuseCo moves for a directed verdict on the ground that Naomi has not offered any evidence of negligence. Naomi responds that the court should deny the motion because of the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur.
Bonus question: What would be the best type of evidence in this scenario?
Because the circumstantial evidence supports the inferences necessary for application of res ispa loquitur, the court would not err in denying Amuse Co's motion.
Expert testimony would be the best evidence in the scenario.