What is Tort Law

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Instructor: Kat Kadian-Baumeyer

Kat has a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership and Management and teaches Business courses.

A tort is simply a civil wrong. There are three general types of torts that may cause injury to another person.In civil law, torts are grounds for lawsuits to compensate a grieving party for any damages or injuriessuered.

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Tort Law: Three Types of TortsTorts are wrongdoings that are done by one party against another. As a result of thewrongdoing, the injured person may take civil action against the other party. To simplify this,let's say while walking down the aisle of a grocery store, you slip on a banana that had fallenfrom a shelf. You become the plainti, or injured party, and the grocery store is consideredthe tortfeasor or defendant, the negligent party.

Simply said, you would probably take civil action against the grocery store to recoupcompensation for pain, suering, medical bills and expenses incurred as a result of the fall.Negligence is just one tort category. There are three general categories of torts. Regardless ofthe tort action, three elements must be present:

Tortfeasor, or defendant, had a duty to act or behave in a certain way.

Plainti must prove that the behavior demonstrated by the tortfeasor did not conform to the dutyowed to the plainti.

The plainti suered an injury or loss as a result.

Because torts are a civil action involving private parties, punishment does not include a ne orincarceration. The punishment for tortious acts usually involves restoring the injured partymonetarily. Sometimes a court order may force the tortfeasor to either do or not dosomething. Think trespassing, defamation or slander. Let's explore the three types of torts:

Intentional torts

Negligence torts

Strict liability torts



Intentional TortsAn intentional tort is an act that is intentionally committed against another person with theaim of causing harm. There are several intentional torts that fall into this category, like assault,battery, conversion, fraud, false imprisonment, trespassing and invasion of privacy. Not everyinjury-producing action is cause for an intentional tort lawsuit. The court will look at theconduct of the defendant to determine whether the actions were, in fact, intentional or justmere willful and wanton behavior not specically meant to cause fear or injury, but isconsidered reckless.

Betty Geeslin, a personal representative of Bill Geeslin in Bill Geeslin v. Kobe Bryant, is one ofthose cases. Back in November of 2005, Geeslin and a friend attended a Lakers/Grizzlies game.The fans held courtside seats for the event. At some point during the game, famous basketballplayer Bryant ran to retrieve an out-of-bounds ball. As he reached for the ball, he lost hisfooting and fell atop Geeslin, leaving him with injury to his chest and lungs. After several days,Geeslin, now home, began experiencing uncomfortable pain in his chest severe enough to visitan emergency room. Once examined, it was diagnosed that he suered a bruising and acrushed lung. He was prescribed several pain medications and a breathing machine and senthome.

After a few weeks of home treatment, Geeslin decided to sue Bryant for assault, battery andiniction of emotional distress. Geeslin claimed that when Kobe attempted to remove himselffrom Geeslin's chest, he used extreme force to push away, causing injury. Geeslin also claimedthat he could no longer sleep at night, suered anxiety and felt embarrassed by the incident ingeneral.

When the court analyzed the case, it felt that the elements for tortious behavior were notpresent. Specically, Geeslin assumed the risk of injury by choosing courtside seats. Bryant inno way intended to cause injury to Geeslin at the time of the initial fall or as he attempted toreturn to the court, and a reasonable person would not conclude that the incident was soseriously traumatic that Geeslin suered emotional distress to the degree he claimed. In amotion for defendant's summary judgment, the court ruled in favor of Bryant.

On a side note, Geeslin died prior to nal judgment and a personal representative maintainedthe claim against Bryant until time of nal judgment. However, Bryant settled with the estateout of court for the sum of $75,000 to put a rest to any further appeals or complaints againsthim. Our next torts deal with actions that cause injury that do not have intentionalcharacteristics.

Negligence Torts



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Negligence occurs when a party fails to demonstrate the kind of care a prudent person wouldtake in the same situation and an injury results from the action or inaction. There are veelements necessary to prove a negligence case:

Defendant owed a duty of reasonable care.

Defendant did not behave in a reasonable manner to demonstrate care.

Plainti suered an injury as a result of the defendant's actions or inactions.

The injury caused actual damages.

Proximate cause, defendant's actions or inactions were the cause of injury.

While these elements seem repetitive, they are necessary for a negligence case. Let's see whathappens in a comical case involving negligence.

In Byrne v. Boadle (1863), Byrne was walking down the street when a barrel full of our fell outof a window and landed upon him, causing the plainti injury. In this case, the our shopowed anyone walking on the sidewalk below the window a duty of care. In other words, a ourbarrel should not be in a window where it could fall. The defendant should have usedreasonable care that the our barrels are stored in an area of the shop where injury to apasser-by could not possibly happen. Byrne was injured because of the our shop'snegligence in storing our barrels appropriately, leaving the our shop solely responsible forthis injury. Needless to say, this was a prima facie case because the evidence was strongenough on face value to convince a court to rule in favor of the plainti.

Strict Liability TortsCases involving strict liability are similar to negligence. In these instances, the defendant maybe responsible for damages even if the defendant was not negligent. This may seem counter-intuitive, but it makes sense. Let's take the dog bite law as an example.

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