Exam 4: Intentional Torts

Andy entered a small restaurant and sat on a stool at the lunch counter.Baker entered the restaurant a few moments later,and sat down at the lunch counter next to Andy.For no apparent reason,Andy suddenly struck Baker on the side of the head with his fist,knocking Baker to the floor.Baker raised himself from the floor,then seized Andy,and tossed him through the large glass window at the front of the restaurant.Andy was seriously injured,and hospitalized as a result of the incident.Baker is liable for the injury to Andy because it was not necessary for him to act in self-defence.

In the Common Law provinces,the limitation period for commencing legal action against governments is set by specific statutes and is usually very short (days or months); but in Quebec,it is even shorter.

B and C owned adjacent houses in a subdivision.B's house and lot were located on slightly higher ground than C's,and the natural flow of water was downhill towards C's house.The two houses were separated by a 2.5-metre wide driveway,of which each owned one-half.One day,B changed the location of the eavestrough downspout on his house to direct the flow of water from his roof across the driveway,which sloped towards C's house.The first heavy rain resulted in the flooding of C's basement,because B had directed all of the rain which had collected on his roof towards and into C's basement window.C should have foreseen the entry of the water from B's downspout,and dug a ditch to direct it away from his house.

Darren sells counterfeit Gucci watches on a downtown street corner for $30 each.If asked,he says they are "genuine imitation Guccis."

At a social club meeting that was held to discuss an environmental problem in a community,Brown made a speech in favour of a particular course of action that he thought the club should follow.Smith,who did not like the suggestions made by Brown,also made a short speech in which he called Brown an "idiot," and his suggestions "rubbish." Injury to one's reputation by a false statement,where the statement is not subject to privilege,is a tort.

A newspaper cartoon depicted a well-known international entrepreneur as a greedy villain dressed as Robin Hood who was "stealing from the poor and giving to himself." The newspaper could successfully defend any action taken by the entrepreneur by invoking fair comment.

As you exit a shopping mall you accidentally run into another person and knock her down.As she leaps to her feet you begin to exchange words that escalate and you find yourself in physical struggle with the other person.After receiving several blows from her you retaliate by striking her on the head with your umbrella,knocking her unconscious and producing a large gash on her head.Discuss the principles of assault and battery as well as self-defence and what actions constitute each by defining them.Write a short decision on this case based on your knowledge and definition of the principles.

You run a large and lucrative bar and restaurant,and you have just hired a new bouncer.You have explained to him that it is always best to be friendly and to calm angry patrons.Describe to him how far he can go to protect himself if attacked,and why he must learn to control himself when provoked.Explain also how his behaviour,if he assaults a patron,could affect you.

B and C owned adjacent houses in a subdivision.B's house and lot were located on slightly higher ground than C's,and the natural flow of water was downhill towards C's house.The two houses were separated by a 2.5-metre wide driveway,of which each owned one-half.One day,B changed the location of the eavestrough downspout on his house to direct the flow of water from his roof across the driveway,which sloped towards C's house.The first heavy rain resulted in the flooding of C's basement,because B had directed all of the rain which had collected on his roof towards and into C's basement window.B is liable for trespass by directing the rain water collected on his roof towards C's property,if he did so with the intention of flooding C's basement.

Peter,a professional water skier,was very prominent in his field,having won numerous international championships prior to turning professional.As part of his work he was himself actively involved in promoting and marketing his name and reputation for commercial benefits. Waterski Summer Camps Inc.operated a summer camp for children at which water-skiing was a central part of its camp program.In February,the camp hired ABC Advertising Co.to prepare promotional material for the summer camp.At this time it attempted to engage Peter to promote and participate in the summer camp.However,due to other engagements and a busy summer work schedule,Peter refused. In connection with Peter's promotional activities he frequently used a famous photograph of himself skiing.ABC Advertising prepared without Peter's consent a live drawing stylisation of this photograph.There was a striking similarity between the drawing and the well-known photograph of Peter.It used the drawing in a pamphlet and advertisement prepared to promote the camp.The camp's general manager approved the use of the drawings in the advertising material. When Peter discovered the drawing,he confronted the camp about its use.The manager stated that the camp did not intend to represent Peter in the drawing,rather to convey the impression of water-skiing.Peter instituted legal proceedings against the camp and the advertising company.Discuss the basis of his claim and the arguments he may use.C.C.L.T.20 (Ont.S.C.) The plaintiff's action is based in the tort of slander of title,more particularly,in passing-off and the wrongful appropriation of his personality or image.He may argue that the unauthorized use of the drawing by the camp was a deliberate attempt to market him as promoting and participating in the camp,thus creating confusion between the camp's business and the plaintiff's business.The camp was,in fact,attempting to convey to potential customers that Peter was associated with it and was thereby,trading on the goodwill and reputation he had built up for himself by pursuing his own commercial promotion.Moreover,he was the rightful owner of his own image which could not lawfully be employed without his consent. At trial,the court held that on the balance of probabilities the use of the drawing would not confuse that segment of the public likely to read the brochure between the business of the camp and that of the plaintiff.Nor could any harm to the plaintiff's image be shown.Therefore,the claim for passing-off failed.The claim for misappropriation of personality succeeded,as the plaintiff's exclusive proprietary right to market his personality for gain had been interfered with by the camp.

At a social club meeting that was held to discuss an environmental problem in a community,Brown made a speech in favour of a particular course of action that he thought the club should follow.Smith,who did not like the suggestions made by Brown,also made a short speech in which he called Brown an "idiot," and his suggestions "rubbish." Defamatory statements made at social club meeting are generally considered to be less serious than defamatory statements published in a newspaper or magazine.

T borrowed D's automobile for the purpose of delivering a parcel to the post office.On his return,T parked D's automobile in his own garage,and refused to return it to D.Conversion is an actionable tort.

At a social club meeting that was held to discuss an environmental problem in a community,Brown made a speech in favour of a particular course of action that he thought the club should follow.Smith,who did not like the suggestions made by Brown,also made a short speech in which he called Brown an "idiot," and his suggestions "rubbish." Statements made at a social club meeting are subject to absolute privilege.

The ACME Toaster Company was searching for a supplier of wire heating elements for its toasters.It located the XYZ Element Company which also supplied good quality elements to the Pop-Up Toaster Company,ACME's main competitor.In order to fill ongoing standing orders for elements,XYZ required ACME to complete a credit survey identifying ACME's bank and trade credit references.ACME,which was in financial difficulty,provided a bank account number which actually belonged to the president personally and in which there were substantial deposits.ACME also wrote a letter to the operations manager of XYZ stating that ACME could purchase the entire production of XYZ's elements and that if XYZ would agree to ACME being its exclusive elements customer,ACME would guarantee the purchase of XYZ's annual production at 1% above the price paid by Pop-Up.XYZ was delighted.It informed Pop-Up that it would no longer be able to meet its supply requirements,effective immediately.ACME received its first shipment of elements within a week.

A newspaper cartoon depicted a well-known international entrepreneur as a greedy villain dressed as Robin Hood who was "stealing from the poor and giving to himself." The entrepreneur would be precluded from seeking damages from the publisher of the newspaper because cartoons are exempt from the defamation laws.

Dan had been notified by his landlord,Kevin,that he was being evicted and was to vacate the premises within one month's time.Dan ignored all of Kevin's subsequent notices of the deadline,refused Kevin's help in moving and caused many confrontations on the issue that almost escalated to physical altercations.After the deadline passed,Dan's belongings were still in the apartment but Dan was nowhere to be found.Kevin put on a new lock,moved Dan's things to the apartment storage units and left a note on the door explaining the arrangement and for Dan to come and talk to him about the situation.Upon investigation the next day,Kevin found the lock smashed and the apartment to be severely damaged.As well,Dan's possessions had been removed from the storage.

Which of the following fact patterns does NOT constitute trespass?

Jim applied for a position with the city's public works department that he had seen advertised in the local newspaper.The advertisement specifically requested experience with heavy machinery,which would be used on a daily basis in this job.Jim did not know how to operate any of the machinery,and in fact,he did not have a valid driver's licence.On his first day at the job Jim caused an accident that will cost the city greatly.Jim's action would constitute deceit under tort law.

Karim was replacing the light bulb inside of his refrigerator.The bulb was an odd size so he put it in his coat pocket when he went to Gnome Hardware to purchase a replacement.While standing in front of the light bulb display Karim removed the old light bulb from his pocket to compare it to those for sale.None of the bulbs on display were the same so Karim put the old bulb back into his coat pocket and walked out of the store.When he left the store a clerk approached him and asked him to go to the manager's office.Can Karim bring a legal action against Gnome Hardware for false imprisonment?

Jason,a department store detective,saw Andrew slip some merchandise into his pocket.Jason followed him out of the store,and stopped Andrew without touching him.He then quietly and politely asked him to accompany him to the security office.Andrew agreed,but when his pockets were searched,nothing was found.Andrew can successfully sue the department store for false imprisonment.