Torts Flashcards
(6 cards)
Vicarious Liability Rule Statement
Is it a form of what kind of liability?
An employer is liable for ____ conduct of _____ within the ______ of his employment.
Vicarious liability is a form of strict liability in which one person is liable for the negligent actions of another.
An employer is liable for the tortious conduct of an employee that is within the scope of his employment.
Negligent Rule Statement
In a negligent action, a plaintiff must show that the defendant owed a duty to the plaintiff, that the defendant breached that duty, that the defendant caused the plaintiff’s injuries and that damages exist.
Generally, the standard of care imposed on a defendant is that of a reasonably prudent person under similar circumstances.
A person is required to exercise care that a reasonable person under the same circumstances would recognize as necessary to avoid or prevent an unreasonable risk of harm to another person.
In determining whether a specific precaution was warranted, a jury must weigh the probability and gravity of the injury against the burden of taking such precautions.
Battery Rule Statement
A defendant is liable for the intentional tort of battery when a defendant causes a harmful or offensive contact with the person of another and acts with the intent to cause that contact or the transferred intent of that contact.
A defendant’s contact is intentional if he acts with the desire to bring about the harm or engages in an action knowing that harm is substantially certain to occur.
Eggshell plaintiff rule
Defendant is not required to foresee the extent of damages to be liable for all damages.
No proof of actual harm is required. A plaintiff may recover nominal damages.
Assault Rule Statement
A defendant is liable for assault when he intentionally causes a plaintiff’s reasonable apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive bodily contact.
A defendant must act with the intent to either cause that apprehension or the contact itself.
The harm must appear imminent.
Threats of future harm do not suffice.
Mere words do not constitute an assault.
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
A defendant is liable for intentionally or recklessly acting with extreme or outrageous conduct that causes the plaintiff severe emotional distress.
Transferred intent does not apply.
Extreme or outrageous conduct is conduct which exceeds the limits of common decency so as to be intolerable to society.
Plaintiff must prove severe emotional distress beyond what a reasonable person could endure.
