Exam 6: Elements of Torts

Self-defense is a likely defense to a defamation action.

Absolute privilege grants immunity in situations where:

The intentional detention of a person may be the tort of:

If causal connection between a person's act and the resulting harm to another is broken by an intervening act or event, the act or event is called:

For there to be a tort of negligence, there must be a causal connection between the alleged negligent conduct and the harm suffered.

False imprisonment is the unjustified, intentional detention of a person. The detention:

Which of the following would be least likely to be an invasion of privacy:

When Mary runs for the School Board, Bob announces that Mary has a history of not paying her bills, which is true but private information. Mary is humiliated but has no cause of action in tort against Bob because they are in the political arena.

In Fuerschbach v. Southwest Airlines, where Fuerschbach was "arrested" at work as part of a prank, the appeals court held that there was no tort because there was no malice or physical injury despite the fact that Fuerschbach did not like it.

One concept behind the tort of invasion of privacy is to:

Fact Pattern 6-1 E-Z Rid disposes of toxic wastes. Elmo worked for E-Z. He contacted clients, negotiated contracts, and oversaw the daily operations at E-Z. The company is so busy its safety procedures are overlooked to get all the work done. Elmo knew safety lapses at E-Z (including improperly burying toxic waste) were common, but he overlooked this because he wanted the company to succeed. Elmo happy until one day he and Jo Wong, president of the E-Z, had an argument. Elmo quit and began to look for another job. Extracto, a rival of E-Z, needed someone like Elmo. He interviewed and thought he would get the job. But when Extracto got a letter describing Elmo's work, they told him they could not hire him. Jo had written a negative and partly untrue account of his work record. Elmo started his own business and contacted many of E-Z's clients. He told them that E-Z was having safety problems, that they could be financially liable for E-Z's negligence, and that Jo was unstable. Many of E-Z's customers switch to do business with Elmo. When Jo discovered what Elmo had done she was furious. She bought a one-page ad in the local paper which stated that Elmo was a careless businessman whose business was bound to be awful, and who embezzled funds from clients in the past (not true). Elmo then stormed onto E-Z's property and went into Jo's office. After calling her a no-good liar, Elmo slapped her. -Refer to Fact Pattern 6-1. If Elmo had entered Jo's office and threatened to hit her, but never did, Elmo might face a charge of:

Juries in tort cases often award large sums of money because:

If Sam points a gun at Harry, a stranger, and says "Prepare to die," but then does nothing, the tort possibly committed is:

In some states, if a plaintiff is found to have contributed fifty percent or more of the negligence to a situation, then there may be no recovery from the defendant.

In general, if store personnel believe someone may have shoplifted, they have the right to detain the person for a short while and not be liable for false imprisonment.

In Fuerschbach v. Southwest Airlines, where Fuerschbach was "arrested" by the police as a prank at work, the appeals court held that there could be a tort of assault and battery by the police because:

Due to criticism that the proximate cause rule is difficult to understand and apply, some states have replaced it with the:

If a jury finds there is comparative negligence in a tort case, which of the following happens:

Mary, who has developed a deep hatred of Joe, disguises her voice and calls him one night claiming to be a nurse at a hospital in the city where Joe's parents live and tells him that his parents have just been killed in a car accident. Joe would be most likely to win a tort suit for:

To be liable of a tort in negligence, one must have owed a duty of care to the party who suffered an injury.