Deck 12: Other Torts

Question 1

Which of the following is a valid criticism of the current state of the law with respect to occupiers' liability?

A) A fee paid for the right to enter an occupier's premises is absent.
B) Occupiers have liability to anyone entering onto their property.
C) The abolition of the tort altogether is contrary to the public interest.
D) The blurring of classes and resulting duties owed to each is problematic.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Alexis positioned his new fence exactly where he wanted it, even though it significantly encroaches on his neighbour's property. Which of the following would immediately let Alexis know he has most likely erred on the wrong side of the law?

A) being served with a claim for negligent construction
B) being served with a claim for occupiers' liability
C) having to defend an action for trespass
D) having to defend an action for nuisance

Answer 2

C

Question 3

With respect to statutory requirements relating to occupiers' liability, which of the following would most likely be set out as a general requirement by provincial legislators creating such law?

A) to create a standard of duty to act with common humanity
B) to refrain from creating deliberate danger or harm
C) to create a high duty of care owed to trespassers
D) the common law standard of duty of care

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which of the following is synonymous with a warranty that "the premises are as safe as reasonable care and skill on the part of anyone can make them"?

A) a duty owed to an occupier's licensee
B) a duty owed to a contractual entrant
C) a duty owed to anyone who is a visitor
D) a duty owed to an occupier's invitee

Question 5

Roger's soccer team completed the entry form and submitted the fee to participate in a local weekend promotional tournament. Several players in the opening games became nauseated and very ill due to exposure to residue from a pesticide sprayed on the fields an hour earlier. In formulating a legal argument, which of the following could be applied to reach the equivalent to the standard of care set by Manitoba occupiers' liability legislation?

A) standard of common law duty of care
B) negligence standard
C) standard of statutory duty of care
D) neighbour standard

Question 6

A young father's serious slip and fall injury could likely result in which of the following legal outcomes for the occupier?

A) a denial of coverage by the insurer due to a pre-existing condition
B) greater effort to keep persons entering the premises reasonably safe
C) a statutorily implied exemption from vicarious liability
D) liability for not ensuring the property was reasonably safe

Question 7

As she exited her bank's building, Tallama's foot became entangled in a thick rope hanging from the building maintenance worker's window-washing platform onto the ground. Tallama lost her balance and broke her arm as she awkwardly hit the ground. Under which of the following torts will Tallama's lawyer most likely commence an action to recover damages?

A) occupiers' nuisance
B) contractual entrants' negligence
C) contractual entrants' liability
D) occupiers' liability

Question 8

In law, which of the following will probably be most influenced by the categorization of visitors according to distinctive classifications?

A) distinguishing different classes of occupiers
B) whether someone's presence is beneficial to the licensee
C) whether someone's presence is beneficial to a customer
D) determining the liability of the occupier

Question 9

Which of the following are treated according to specialized rules in some jurisdictions under occupiers' liability legislation?

A) licensees
B) rollerbladers
C) burglars
D) trespassers

Question 10

What is the legal term for the group of parties recognized as having the ability to exercise some degree of control over land or buildings on that land?

A) occupant
B) occupier
C) licensee
D) tenant

Question 11

A retail store owner requests that an unruly patron immediately leave the store. What is the status of the patron?

A) a licensee
B) a non-invitee
C) a trespasser
D) an entrant of right

Question 12

Jeremy placed caution signs around the area of the loading bay where the old concrete flooring had crumbled. The deterioration created an obscure depression, posing a hazard the unwary could easily step into. On whom is Jeremy's precautionary action most likely intended to have the greatest degree of influence?

A) trespassers
B) licensees
C) invitees
D) contractual entrants

Question 13

What provincial jurisdiction has abolished occupiers' liability altogether as a specialized category in law?

A) British Columbia
B) New Brunswick
C) Newfoundland
D) Quebec

Question 14

A lawyer is arguing that a promoter hosting a public New Year's social is liable in tort for negligence causing injury and loss to his client. Which of the following arguments most likely offers the strongest support for the claim for damages he is presenting to the court?

A) Occupiers have a moral obligation to keep the premises safe.
B) The promoter failed to provide a safe environment.
C) The promoter should assume both physical and legal risks.
D) The promoter advertised the event.

Question 15

Delmar Construction Inc. was unable to continue its apartment block construction project. Subsequent to the temporary suspension of construction, a child was seriously injured when he fell into the open basement portion of the building. What do these circumstances exemplify?

A) an exemption from liability owing to mischief
B) an exemption from liability owing to nuisance
C) occupiers' liability
D) Delmar's contractual liability

Question 16

Martina is meeting with a group of new trainees. One of management's main training goals is to improve employee awareness of the legal risks that can arise under occupiers' liability. What will Martina most likely stress as a distinguishing feature of this form of liability?

A) that an occupier owes a lower duty to a contractual entrant than an invitee
B) that each class of visitor is owed a different standard of care
C) the importance of ensuring entrants have paid for the right to enter
D) the severity of the liability when someone is classified as a trespasser

Question 17

Suspecting a burglar was attempting to enter his garage, Hakim let his Dobermans outside to take care of the threat. He was shocked six months later when he was served with a lawsuit claiming damages for the serious injuries inflicted by the Dobermans' bites on the thief's hands and legs. Why has Hakim been named as a defendant in this lawsuit?

A) Hakim owed a duty of care to restrict the number of bites his dogs could inflict.
B) The injuries result from his reckless disregard for the trespasser's presence.
C) Hakim owed a generalized duty of care based on the neighbour principle.
D) The thief must be a child in order for injury to a trespass to be actionable.

Question 18

What is the most common occurrence that gives rise to a tort action in relation to the commercial use of property?

A) an occupier of a property harms others
B) customer's injuries sustained by a slip and fall
C) an occupier detaining suspected shoplifters
D) an occupier adversely affecting adjacent landowners

Question 19

Roslyn was stopped on her way to her seat during the hockey game and asked to show her ticket, which she readily did. Why did Roslyn have to comply with the usher's request to show her ticket?

A) to allow the usher to point out the exclusion of warranty
B) so she could be ushered to the correct seat
C) so she could confirm entry for the spectators' benefit
D) to show she had paid for the right to enter the premises

Question 20

With respect to unusual dangers, which of the following is a recent modification to the general rule with respect to occupiers' responsibilities to licensees?

A) Liability arises from having actual awareness of them.
B) Liability for known hazards is highest when the visitor is a licensee.
C) Liability for known hazards is highest when the visitor is an invitee.
D) Liability arises from having reason to know about them.

Question 21

Why have governments introduced the concept of "a degree of acceptable environmental damage" by way of sophisticated and complex environmental legislation?

A) to displace the importance of common law protections set in nuisance
B) to make environmental trespass actionable without proof of harm or damage
C) to ensure that any guest refusing to leave a campsite when asked is a trespasser
D) to provide the certainty needed for resolving boundary/title disputes

Question 22

A court released Raven from her contract and awarded $33 000 in damages arising from harm flowing from her reliance on deliberate misrepresentations. What is the cause of action represented by these circumstances?

A) deceit
B) deception of the pubic
C) existence of goodwill
D) passing off

Question 23

According to the Supreme Court of Canada, which of the following is synonymous with the reputation of a business and its expectation of patronage in the future?

A) goodwill
B) profitability
C) deceit
D) ethics

Question 24

A lawyer for a defendant is arguing that the plaintiff negligently failed to keep a proper lookout for pucks at a hockey arena, causing his own injury. What classification could likely be applied by a court to negatively influence the viability of this defence?

A) plaintiff as a trespasser on private property
B) flying pucks as a danger clubs ought to anticipate
C) flying pucks as substantial interference with enjoyment of the game
D) trespassers as presenting a substantially unreasonable intrusion

Question 25

What is the common term for publishing a defamatory statement?

A) defamation
B) fair comment
C) libel
D) slander

Question 26

Which of the following is synonymous with a misrepresentation causing loss?

A) the fraudulent use of dirty tricks
B) an uncommon remedy in damages
C) the tort of passing off
D) a reckless disregard for the truth

Question 27

Leakage from a gold mine's tailings pond eventually leached through the soil, contaminating the groundwater system with high levels of cyanide. Dairy farmers in the region suffered heavy losses from the illness in their herds caused by the poisoned well water. With respect to the right to use and enjoy land, which of the following would a lawyer advising the farmers likely suggest as grounds for an actionable tort?

A) a nuisance action on the grounds of unreasonable and substantial interference
B) a negligence action on the grounds of breach of promise of absolute safety
C) a nuisance action on the grounds of temporary interference with property
D) a trespass action on the grounds of interference with property rights

Question 28

A law professor is discussing possible defences to a spectator's claim for damages against an occupier. With respect to a successful defence for an alleged negligent breach of contract, which of the following could you reasonably expect the professor to suggest?

A) the insignificance of an intrusion
B) the action was unintentional in nature
C) the codification of volenti non fit injuria
D) the absence of a promise of absolute safety

Question 29

Which of the following would, owing to inflexibility, be considered to strongly support the protection of the Canadian environment?

A) federal environmental statutes
B) the common law tort of nuisance
C) municipal land-use bylaws
D) provincial environmental statutes

Question 30

Which of the following is typically derived from s. 494 of the Criminal Code?

A) the authority to detain
B) the authority to search
C) the authority to act on suspicion of a crime
D) the authority to psychologically coerce

Question 31

Which of the following is a distinguishing feature of the tort of battery?

A) Contact need not cause actual harm.
B) Contact need not be harmful or offensive.
C) Harm must flow directly from contract.
D) Harm must flow from careless disregard.

Question 32

What is a distinguishing feature of court awards for damages arising from an actionable tort of interference with contractual relations?

A) personal service contracts are exempted from specific performance
B) specific performance is rarely awarded in master/servant relationships
C) damages are exempted in instances of inducement of breach of contract
D) courts rarely award damages for breach of personal service contracts

Question 33

In law, which of the following most strongly supports a complete remedy for a business experiencing harm arising from another's deceptive copying?

A) an award of damages for a passing-off action
B) an injunction restraining interference with contractual relations
C) a statutory law remedy for passing off
D) an injunction restraining the offending activity and damages

Question 34

Which of the following is synonymous with the phrase "protect the reputation of individuals against unfounded and unjustified attacks" with respect to an actionable tort?

A) the law of unfair comment
B) the tort of defamation
C) the breach of qualified privilege
D) the tort of absolute privilege

Question 35

Which of the following would most likely be used by a court to assess the quantum of an individual's actual monetary damages resulting from defamation?

A) the severity of injury from the falsehood
B) the remoteness of the damages
C) the severity of the defamation
D) the foreseeability of the damages

Question 36

Jameson waited calmly during the 20 minutes he was detained, while shopkeepers looked through his backpack for shoplifted items to no avail. What tort has been committed?

A) psychological coercion
B) false imprisonment
C) nuisance
D) trespass of person

Question 37

What is the common term for broadcasting a defamatory utterance?

A) slander
B) liable
C) defamation
D) libel

Question 38

Which of the following would be most strongly supported by counsel's presentation of evidence that substantiates the truth of a statement in a defamation action?

A) a qualified privilege
B) a complete defence
C) an absolute privilege
D) an opinion defence

Question 39

What is the most likely outcome of a court's finding of a defendant's libellous conduct as being particularly reprehensible and oppressive?

A) punitive damages
B) special damages
C) general damages
D) exemplary damages

Question 40

The court has determined that plaintiff's counsel has been unable to show malice. Which of the following would be most strongly supported by this finding by the court?

A) qualified privilege
B) fair comment
C) defamation
D) absolute privilege

Question 41

Any person who comes onto the property to provide the occupier with a benefit is legally described as a licensee.

Question 42

Bonita has been given a new assignment relating to preparing a list of possible legal risks associated with the business's newly leased office space. Bonita will need to consider occupier's liability, trespass, and nuisance in relation to risks arising from occupation of property.

Question 43

Tort actions that are relevant to business activities can be divided between those that arise because a business occupies a property and those that arise due to actual business operations.

Question 44

Marcel leases two large warehouse buildings on the outskirts of the city to Regis; therefore, risks arising from occupier's liability are limited to affecting Marcel.

Question 45

Any person whose presence is not a benefit to the occupier but to which the occupier has no objection is legally described as an invitee.

Question 46

The general rule with respect to occupier's liability for responsibility to a licensee is for the occupier to make the licensee aware of any unusual danger of which the occupier is aware.

Question 47

An owner of a building who uses one of the offices for his own business purposes is an occupier.

Question 48

Which of the following is problematic in the legal context of comparative and negative advertising?

A) qualified privilege
B) injurious falsehood
C) fair comment
D) defamation

Question 49

Occupier's liability describes the liability that occupiers have to anyone who enters onto their land or property.

Question 50

With respect to personal information, which of the following does the protection of privacy interests afforded through privacy legislation deal with?

A) reputation, right to exclusive enjoyment, and dignity
B) proof of damage arising from an actionable privacy violation
C) the protection of the privacy of young offenders
D) disclosure, use, and collection for commercial purposes

Question 51

An individual who is asked by security to leave a shopping mall will instantly become a trespasser against whom force can be used.

Question 52

With respect to the management of the risk of passing off, which of the following would immediately let you know that training efforts have failed?

A) providing adequate warnings and protections to visitors
B) copying others treated as innovation by employees
C) maintaining adequate liability insurance coverage
D) reducing risk by keeping sidewalks clear of ice

Question 53

A contractual entrant is any person who has paid for the right to enter the premises.

Question 54

In Hollinsworth v. BCTV, [1996] 6 W.W.R. 54 (B.C.C.A.), what statute did the plaintiff successfully rely on to compensate for the liberties taken by the defendant without the plaintiff's knowledge or consent?

A) New Brunswick's Privacy Act
B) Ontario's Privacy Act
C) Canada's Privacy Act
D) British Columbia's Privacy Act

Question 55

Out of all of the common law Canadian provincial jurisdictions, only Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Prince Edward Island have passed occupier's liability legislation.

Question 56

The main tort actions arising from occupation of property relate to passing off, injurious falsehood, and deceit.

Question 57

Which of the following is a distinguishing characteristic of injurious or malicious falsehood?

A) The burden of proof requires a plaintiff to establish malicious harm to his reputation.
B) The plaintiff must prove a false statement harming her reputation was intentional.
C) The burden of proof requires a plaintiff to establish a negative product statement is false.
D) The plaintiff must prove a malicious statement about service or products and its falsehood.

Question 58

A trespasser is someone whose presence on land is practically objected to by the occupier of that land.

Question 59

Which of the following is the most suitable substitute to having an after-the-fact debate on the standard of duty owed to an injured entrant?

A) determining what classification the injured plaintiff belongs under
B) knowing that insurance policies are adequate and in good standing
C) knowing whether children trespass onto neighbouring property
D) implementing preventive measures to maintain safe premises

Question 60

Businesses face liability for the tort of negligence as well as under nuisance legislation for what is known as a "slip and fall."

Question 61

Trespass is the act of unlawful detention or physical restraint or coercion by psychological means.

Question 62

Passing off involves presenting another's goods or services as one's own.

Question 63

Identify and briefly describe the elements that must be proven by a plaintiff seeking a remedy from a court for an actionable tort of passing off.

Question 64

Identify and briefly explain the various methods a business facing potential tort liabilities should implement to effectively manage those risks.

Question 65

Describe the questions that should be included in an occupier's liability risk management plan.

Question 66

Identify the torts that endeavour to protect a business's property and its own reputation and the party whose actions typically give rise to this type of action.

Question 67

Explain the common law duty to warn owed by an occupier to an invitee. Identify the common law tort that occupier's liability is most similar to in jurisdictions where statute law prevails.

Question 68

From a business perspective, the tort of deceit most commonly arises in the contractual area.

Question 69

Identify who an occupier of a building is responsible for and briefly explain the basis on which the extent of that responsibility is varied.

Question 70

The act of coming onto another's property without the occupier's express invitation or implied consent gives rise to the tort of invasion of privacy.

Question 71

The Trade-marks Act contains a statutory form of action that bears a strong resemblance to the tort of passing off.

Question 72

In order for a claim for a tort of nuisance to be actionable, the offending intrusion must be significant and unreasonable.

Question 73

Identify and describe the questions that would be considered appropriate for inclusion in a risk management list of questions for use by a business that designs and creates consumer goods.

Question 74

Identify the types of torts that arise from business operations in relation to its customers. Provide a brief explanation of the assurances the law seeks to provide through the application of these types of torts.

Question 75

Arwyn is a highly successful artist. She has recently become aware of a gallery that is selling replicas of some of her smaller sculptures. Identify the tort claim available to Arwyn in these circumstances and explain what a court will require to be proven to its satisfaction. Briefly discuss the effect satisfying this requirement will have, with respect to providing a remedy for Arwyn.

Question 76

Briefly explain whether there is a general recognition of a common law tort for invasion of privacy. If the answer is negative, identify and briefly describe how common law provides protection from invasion of privacy.