TL - Intentional Torts (Lesson)

Introduction

What is tort law? A tort is a wrongdoing that is done by one party or entity against another party or entity, generally involving some element of injury or harm. Tort law serves to compensate the victim or victims for losses caused by the wrongdoer and to deter a repeating of the behavior in the future. In this lesson, we will review the types of torts, the element of a tort, and remedies for the victims of a tort.

Intentional Torts

Consider these situations……..

Robin Williams, famous comedian, sued his celebrity look-alike who was pretending to be the actual Robin Williams. The look-alike used false-pretenses to cheat charities under Robin Williams’ name also causing serious damage to his reputation.

Kiera Knightley, famous actress, sued The Daily Mail for publishing accusations that Knightley had an eating disorder and that she was responsible for the death of a young woman with anorexia. Ms. Knightley sued The Daily Mail, won her case, and was awarded several thousand dollars in damages. Ms. Knightley donated the damages award to charity.

As you can see from these examples, a tort does not always require some type of injury to cause harm. Oftentimes it involves harm to someone’s reputation, an invasion of privacy, emotional distress, and many more situations.

There are two specific types of torts – intentional tort and unintentional tort, or negligence. In this microlesson we will focus on defining a tort, the elements of a tort, and examples of intentional torts

When a tort takes place and the party who is injured or harmed goes to court, the injured party is the plaintiff and the party who caused harm is the tortfeasor, or the defendant. There are several general types of torts, but regardless of the tort action, there are several elements that must be present in order to show or prove that a tort took place:

• The torfeasor, or defendant, had a duty to act or behave in a certain way
• Plaintiff must prove that the behavior by the tortfeasor did not conform to the duty owed to the defendant
• Proximate cause exists – showing the breach of duty caused the injury or harm
• The plaintiff suffered injury or harm as a result of the act

Torts are civil actions involving private parties. Punishments would not be fines or imprisonment as would be the case in a criminal prosecution. Punishments in a tort case would be monetary or possibly an injunction to stop a particular action from continuing.

Review the following presentation for information on specific intentional torts.

Let's Review!

Take a moment to participate in the following activity to practice your understanding of the topics in this module.  Reach out to your instructor if you have any questions.

Final Thoughts

Torts can take place in many forms – some intentional through specific acts such as assault, battery, defamation, or invasion of privacy, or unintentional through negligence that can vary in extreme from an unattended wet floor to malpractice in a medical procedure. In all cases, an individual or entity has received harm through the wrongdoing of another individual or entity. Tort law serves as the catalyst to protect individuals or entities who are victim in such situations. Tort law serves to: compensate victims for injuries suffered; to shift the cost of such injuries to the person(s) legally responsible; to discourage injurious, careless, or risky behavior in the future; and, to vindicate legal rights and interests compromised through such actions. In the following lessons we will look at other types of torts including negligence, strict liability, and product liability.

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