...Torts Shapo (2003) stated "A tort is a civil wrong in the sense that it is committed against an individual (which includes legal entities such as companies) rather than the state. The gist of tort law is that a person has certain interests which are protected by law. These interests can be protected by a court awarding a sum of money, known as damages, for infringe- ment of a protected interest. Alternatively, by the issuing of an injunction, which is a court order, to the defendant to refrain from doing something" (p.1). This paper will give two scenarios of two different torts. The first tort will be Breach of Fiduciary Duty. The paper will also show how Breach of Fiduciary Duty can be avoided and how the situation could have been avoided. The second tort will be Injurious Falsehood. This paper will also show how Injurious Falsehood can be avoided and how the situation could have been avoided. Breach of Fiduciary Duty Corporation A files for bankruptcy. The directors of the corporation recommend what seems to be a good restructuring plan. The plan relies on maintaining the current business contracts for the success of the corporation. The reconstruction was formulated under false pretenses. After authorization of the plan, the directors of the corporation proceed to reroute the business contracts that would have permitted Corporation A to effectively reorganize to Corporation B. Corporation B is completely owned by the directors of Corporation A. Because of the...
Words: 679 - Pages: 3
...Recognizing and Minimizing Tort and Regulatory Risk In this essay I will explain how regulatory risks may be identified and managed through preventive, detective, and corrective measures for such torts as negligence, product liability and defamation. For most businesses such torts are better handled before they happen. Companies make sure many issues are addressed in the company policy and regulations manuals when new employees are hired as well as in training sessions for topics such as sexual harassment and safety. For a Company such as Firestone Tires and Rubber for example, one type of negligence could be Negligent Hiring. If an employee in a supervisory position verbally abuses another or in an extreme case, assaults another employee with a tire iron used in the performance of his duties, the victim could claim negligent hiring on the part of the company where they both were employed. This could be the case if the aggressive supervisor has had a history of this type of behavior at a previous place of employment. This begs us to ask the question: Has the company made enough effort to fulfill its obligation of providing a safe working environment for its employees? As it was touched on before there are measures that can be taken before something like this happens. For one, the hiring manager could have followed up on references to possibly find out if the candidate for employment has had a history of violence in the workplace, or perhaps...
Words: 992 - Pages: 4
...A. Torts 1. Compensatory and Punitive Damages Tort law involves civil liability between private parties. A plaintiff who wins a tort suit usually recovers the actual damages or compensatory damages that she suffered because of the tort. Depending on the facts of the case, these damages may be for direct and immediate harms, such as physical injuries, medical expenses, and lost pay and benefits, or for harms as intangible as loss of privacy, injury to reputation, and emotional distress. In cases where the defendant’s behavior is particularly bad, injured victims may also be able to recover punitive damages. Punitive damages are not intended to compensate tort victims for their losses. Instead, they are designed to punish flagrant wrongdoers and to deter them and others from engaging in similar conduct in the future. Theoretically, therefore, punitive damages are reserved for the worst kinds of wrongdoing. Punitive damages have always been controversial, but they have grown more so in recent years due to the size of some punitive damage awards and the perception that juries are awarding them in situations where they are not justified. 2. Negligence Defenses The common law traditionally recognized two defenses to negligence: contributory negligence and assumption of risk. In many states, however, one or both of these traditional defenses has been superseded by new defenses called comparative negligence and comparative fault. Contributory negligence is the plaintiff’s...
Words: 3405 - Pages: 14
...Case 3 In this case Millhouse has a cause of action against the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and his cause of action is negligence. Although Lenny is the one who struck Millhouse, as Millhouse’s lawyer in order to get a better settlement I will advise him to sue the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant rather than simply suing Lenny. The Springfield Nuclear Power Plant organized their annual picnic at a local park and it is their responsibility to make sure that their event doesn’t result in public or private harm. They provided their guests with food and beverages including alcoholic beverages such as beer and wine. As a result of that it is safe to assume that the Springfield Nuclear Power plant knew that some people will drink and some will get drunk and it is their responsibility to make sure the ones who got drunk doesn’t drive. My claim against the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant can be established by proving that all the ingredients of negligence exist in this case. It is safe to say that it is reasonably foreseeable that allowing people to drive after they get drunk in Springfield nuclear Power Plant annual picnic will result in somebody getting hurt. It is obvious by the presence of chief Wiggum that the SNPP officials who organized this event had thought that someone might get drunk and drive which will pose a risk of danger to others. Therefore, the duty to exercise care exists in this situation and the fact that Lenny and Carl who were visibly intoxicated were...
Words: 714 - Pages: 3
...Torts assignment Completed Assignment S00095482 Word Count: 1,894 I have been asked to advise James, Stephanie, David and Vaughan on any rights and liabilities they may have arising from the relevant facts, considering also any relevant defences which could be argued and giving full legal reasons from the relevant facts. Such advice as will be given is made in consideration of the legal principles set out below. Vicarious Liability This concerns an employer’s liability for the tortuous acts and omissions of employees. [1] An employer is vicariously liable for wrongful acts done by the employee in the “scope of their employment”[1] [2] If a wrongful act of an employee has been authorised by the employer, the employer will be liable [3] An employer is liable even for unauthorised acts, if they are so connected with authorised acts that they may be regarded as modes of doing them. The test is whether the wrongful act may be considered a mode of performance, or whether it is so removed from an authorised act that it may be deemed independent. Duty of Care The general principle is that “a person is not liable for damage to another through his or her negligence unless a duty of care is owed” [2] [4] “The law concerns itself with carelessness only where there is a legal duty to take care. A person owes a duty to take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which he or she should have reasonably foreseen would be likely to injure his...
Words: 2124 - Pages: 9
...TORTS AND CYBER TORTS CHAPTER 12 Section 1: The Basis of Tort Law * A Tort law is designed to compensate those who have suffered a loss or injury due to another person’s wrongful act. It is meant to obtain compensation (monetary damages) or other remedies for the harm suffered. * The purpose of Tort Law: Tort law tries to protect certain things that society recognizes as an interest worth protecting such as property, intangible interests (personal privacy, family relations, reputation, and dignity) * Types of Damages available in Tort Actions: 1. Compensatory Damages – meant to compensate a plaintiff for actual losses such as special damages (compensation by quantifiable monetary losses) or general damages (compensation by nonmonetary aspects of harm suffered, such as pain and suffering). 2. Punitive Damages – Meant to punish the wrongdoers who have committed a reprehensible or egregious act so as to deter others from similar wrongdoing. This can include gross negligence and intentional tort actions Section 2: INTENTIONAL TORTS AGAINST PERSONS * In tort law, intent means only that the actor intended the consequences of his or her act or knew with substantial certainty that specific consequences would result from the act * Assault and Battery: Assault is any intentional and unexcused threat of immediate harmful or offensive contact, including words or acts that create in another person a reasonable apprehension of harmful contact. * False...
Words: 749 - Pages: 3
...Enterprise Risk Management Everyday someone commits a tort. A tort is act of wrong doing. Torts can be committed by people and by businesses. Torts are any of the following: assault, battery, false imprisonment, invasion of privacy, intentional misrepresentation, defamation of character, negligence, and strict liability. Sometimes torts are intentional and sometimes torts are not intentional. For example, an intentional tort is a fight at a baseball game where there are rival teams playing and a fan from one team punches a fan from the other team in the face all because they do not like the same team. An example of unintentional tort would be a toy manufacturer in China, the company did not realize that the toys were associated with lead paint, which caused bodily harm for some children who bought the product across the United States. Whether intentional or not, there are laws in place that provide a remedy to the party injured by a tort that has been committed. In the products liability case of Non Linear Pro, there were several torts committed. Since the case has to do with a product, strict liability comes into play. When a retailer sells a defective product, they become liable. A retailer, distributor, or manufacturer can be brought into a suit when a defective product is sold. Non Linear Pro also misrepresented the product, which is fraud. It was advised that the product should work in a day and a half, however, after two weeks the product still was not working. The purchaser...
Words: 411 - Pages: 2
...Kafi Hunter Torts Assignment Module 6 As a result of the crash, Farmer suffered several thousand dollars in damage to his land. Neither Dan nor Pilot suffered any physical injuries. 1. Does Farmer have any claim(s) for damages against Pilot based on intentional tort? Discuss. Intentional tort is a deliberate action to cause harm. The Pilot could not see if the land that she choose to navigate the plane for a safe landing had any crops therefore her intent was not deliberate to destroy the crops. However, the Pilot did trespass on the Farmers land. Trespass is considered an intentional tort and occurs when the violation of an exclusive possession is interfered upon. A trespass violation also gives the owner of the property the right to bring a civil lawsuit and collect damages as compensation for any harm suffered. The Pilot did not have permission to land on the Farmers land when landing the plane. The Pilot also destroyed crops with landing the plane. The Farmer does have a claim against the Pilot based on the intentional tort of trespass. 2. Does Dan have any claim(s) against Pilot for intentional tort? Discuss. Dan could claim battery against the Pilot because she intended to move him out of the way. Battery is an intentional tort and a crime because it is a harmful or offensive contact towards another person. Pilot asked Dan to move out of the way of the exit so that Pilot could leave the plane. Dan choose to remain seated until the Fire Department cleared...
Words: 394 - Pages: 2
...Tort of Negligence A tort can be defined as civil wrong which is not a breach of contract i.e. committed against an individual, it is apparent from this definition that there is a distinction between contract and tort. A tortious liability is not undertaken voluntarily by the courts leaving the defendant or/party no option but to accept. A tort doesn’t arise as a result of a bargain but as a consequence of committing a tort. Contractual liability is usually strict but that arising out of a tort is always ALMOST based on fault. The tort of negligence by far is the most important tort as its widely defined and can be committed in the multitude of ways, compared to other torts that apply in more limited circumstances. In order to establish a tort of negligence the plaintiff must establish three things on a balance of probabilities: - *The defendant owed a duty of care *Defendant breached the duty of care *There was damage or injury *No defenses An important distinction that we need to make is for vicarious liability where the employer is vicariously liable for the negligence of the employee, if the employer was negligent during the course of his employment. Duty of Care – the court will ask two questions to determine liability i.e. proximity and foreseeability, the landmark case that supports this was Donoghue v Stevenson [1932]. The case surrounded where the claimant had a decomposed snail in her ginger beer, which caused her to suffer gastroenteritis, and site of the...
Words: 629 - Pages: 3
...MATERIALS WEEK 1 The dotted line between ‘fault liability’ and ‘strict liability’: four ideal types of liability in tort law 1. Are the notions of fault and strict liability misleading? • two notions should be considered as they will be applied all along the four types of liability: - fault (as in fault liability) ( liability for one’s own faults. - risk (or strict liability) ( accountability, based on criteria other than individual fault, for the consequences resulting from an unlawful/illegal act. Four ideal types • a) Individual liability for one’s own faults ▪ the basis for this type of liability lies in the conduct of the person held liable. ( this deserves the qualification ‘fault liability’. ▪ article 6:162 BW is the legal basis for the duty to pay damages where the conduct of a person is qualified as wrongful. • b) Individual liability without blameworthiness ▪ accountability is required. ( elements of fault, as wrongful conduct provides the foundation but also elements of strict liability, since there may be no grounds for apportioning blame. ▪ article 6:162 BW as well as article 6:165 BW may provide some legal basis. • c) Liability for damage caused by others (vicarious liability) ▪ this is a form of strict liability, insofar as there is strict responsibility for the fault of others. ▪ Articles 6:169, 6:170, 6:171 and 6:172 BW provide some legal bases...
Words: 986 - Pages: 4
...Law 252 Business Torts — Week One Course Reading Assignment 1 Part One: The "borderland" between tort and contract. Sommer v, Federal Signal Corp., 79 N.Y.2d 540 (1992); IKEA North American Services, Inc. v. Northeast Graphics, Inc., 56 F.Supp.2d 340 (S.D.N.Y. 1999). Part Two: Introduction to the economic loss doctrine. Grams v. Milk Products, Inc., 283 Wis.2d 511 (2005). ' I have edited the cases in this attachment. Le • ' 593 N.E.2d 1365 79 N.Y.2d 540, 593 N.E.2d 1365, 583 N.Y.S2d 957 • (Cite as: 79 N.Y.2d 540, 593 N.E.2d 1365, 583 N.Y.S.2d 957) Page I .'Sommer v. Federal Signal Corp. N.Y.,1992. Court of Appeals of New York. Beverly SOMMER et al., Respondents-Appellants, v. FEDERAL SIGNAL CORPORATION et Respondents-Appellants, andHohnes Protection, Inc., Appellant-Respondent, et al, Defendant (And a Third-Party Action and All Related Consolidated Actions.) May 12,1992. OPINION OF THE COURT KAYE, Judge. substitute-initially understood that 810 wanted normal service restored. But as the brief conversation proceeded, the dispatcher became confused by the caller's repeated insistence that he would "activate" the system and the dispatcher concluded-without attempting to elicit greater clarification from the caller, or any other confirmation-that 810 wanted its system taken out ofservice. Seven to nine minutes later, Holmes began receiving fire signals from the building. However, consistent with his mistaken impression that the system was to be taken out...
Words: 9531 - Pages: 39
...Grade: A University of London LLB, 2nd year Tort Law Question Amber Valley Primary School was closed 6 months ago by Amber Borough Council (ABC), the local education authority, which owns all the land and buildings. The school has been standing empty while ABC attempts to find a buyer for the site. Although ABC placed fencing around the site, local residents reported that youths had broken into the site on a number of occasions. Last week a group of youths from a nearby young offenders institution, operated by Chigley Services Ltd (CS) under contract to the Home Office, broke into the disused school and set fire to it. The youths had been clearing rubbish from a neighbouring stream and were supposed to have been under the supervision of Justin and Jason, both of whom are CS employees. However, Justin and Jason had gone for a cigarette break and left the youths unsupervised at the time the break-in occurred. The fire caused damage to neighbouring property including a baker's shop owned by Mark. It is likely to be many weeks before the business can reopen and Mark stands to lose many thousands of pounds in lost profits. It later transpired that the fire would not have had time to spread to neighbouring property had the Fire Brigade acted more swiftly. The Amber Valley Fire engine was unavailable at the time and another engine had to be dispatched from Leicester. The crew got lost on the way because they put the wrong address in the sat-nav (satellite navigation)...
Words: 4446 - Pages: 18
...irresponsibility can cost businesses greatly or be forced to close (Business Regulation Simulation, 2009). It is important to identify, manage, and correct torts and regulatory risks for Alumina, Inc. so legal issues do not arise in the future. Alumina, Inc. is a $4 billion dollar USA-based industry leader in Aluminum making. They operated in eight countries around the world. The US accounts for seventy percent of its sales. Their business interests are in: automotive components, manufacturer of packaging materials, and aluminum smelting. Alumina falls under jurisdiction of Region 6 of the EPA. A tort is the French word for a “wrong.” The law provides remedies to persons and businesses that are injured by the tortuous actions of others (Cheesman, 2010). Kelly Bates claims Alumina did not comply with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) legal limit of producing PHA. The drinking water in Lake Dira was found to be unsafe, which caused leukemia in her 10 year old daughter. The plaintiff has filed a million dollar personal injury lawsuit against Alumina to recover punitive damages (Business Regulation Simulation, 2009). Two of the possible tort violations in this simulation are negligence and liability. The potential for negligence in this case must be proven to contain breach of duty and duty of care. The liability tort must prove failure to protect and failure to warn. Alumina, Inc. has a clean record in compliance issues except the violation that took place five...
Words: 300 - Pages: 2
...Business Torts Outline Fall 2009 (Mittleman) |Overview | |Plan of Attack for Answering Questions | |Contractual relationships, where one party alleges a tort. | |Economic Loss Doctrine | | | |Fraud: | |Intentional Fraud (false statement, concealment, omission) ...
Words: 34527 - Pages: 139
...Paula has owned property in a relatively undeveloped area near the top of Black Mountain for many years. Six years ago, Telephone Company erected a cell phone transmission tower on Black Mountain not far from Paula’s property. Four years ago, Paula built a cabin on her property and began to spend most of her free time there engaging in bird watching and other outdoor activities. Last year, Telephone Company leased space on the tower for an emergency alert siren and agreed to install the siren and to test it regularly. The site was chosen because it allows the siren’s warning to carry farther than from any other site. Telephone Company promptly installed the siren. Since its installation, it has tested the siren for a five-minute period weekly. The resulting sound is so loud as to cause Paula to stop whatever she is doing and cover her ears. It also greatly reduces the local bird population. Two months ago, Paula sent a letter to Telephone Company outlining the effects of the siren and demanding that it cease its activities. Telephone Company has not responded to Paula’s demand. Does Paula have any claim against Telephone Company? Discuss Does Paula have a claim against Telephone Company? Trespass to Land 20 An intrusion onto the land of another. Paula will have to establish the Telephone Company (D) intentionally intruded upon or caused a thing to intrude upon her land, causation and damages. Act The D must have performed a volitional act. Here, Paula will show...
Words: 628 - Pages: 3
