Intentional Torts

What are Intentional Torts?

• Actions that you take deliberately to cause harm

• Two types – those causing injury to people and those causing injury to property

• In court, the focus is the intent to do the act, not the desire to cause harm

Damages

Compensatory damages – awarded to compensate for the harm caused by the defendant (pays for lost wages, hospital bills, pain and suffering)

Nominal damages – a token amount of money awarded by the court to show that a plaintiff’s claim was justified

Punitive damages – money awarded to the plaintiff to punish the defendant for malicious, willful, or outrageous acts

Torts that Injure People

• Battery – occurs when a person intentionally causes harmful or offensive contact with another person (offensive – whatever would offend the average person)

• Assault – someone makes a person fear an immediate harmful act (can be an intentional threat, force, or movement that causes reasonable fear)

Torts that Injure People

Infliction of emotional distress – intentionally using words or actions that are meant to scare someone, cause extreme anxiety, or emotional distress

False Imprisonment – when someone intentionally or wrongfully confines a person against his or her will

Defamation

• Harming a person’s reputation• Slander – oral statements that harm a

person’s reputation• Libel – written statements that harm a

person’s reputation

Torts that Harm Property

3 types of property Real property – land and the items

attached to it Personal property – property that

can be moved Intellectual property – ownership

interest in creations of a person’s mind

Real Property Torts

• Trespassing – entering a person’s property without permission

• Attractive nuisance doctrine – property owners must take reasonable care to eliminate a dangerous condition on their land or to protect children from injury where they are likely to trespass

• Nuisance – an unreasonable interference with your ability to use and enjoy your property

• Injunction- a court order to do, or not do, a certain act

Personal and Intellectual Property

Conversion – when someone unlawfully exercises control over another’s property

Patent – official recognition of your ownership of an invention

Copyright – official recognition of some form of creative expression (writing, music, movie, etc.)

Infringement – when someone uses a copyrighted or patented work

Defenses to Intentional Torts

• Consent – arguing that the plaintiff agreed to the harmful conduct and gave up the right to sue

• Privilege – justifying an action because the defendant’s (or public’s) interests require it – legal authority

• Self defense – using force to protect yourself, as long as the actions are not excessive

• Defense of property – same as self defense, but for property