Business Torts and Ethics Paper

 

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Learning Objectives

In this chapter you will learn:

10-1. To compare how tort law is related to property.

10-2. To differentiate the three divisions of torts and to generate a theory

of why torts are so divided.

10-3. To explain the elements of negligence and to relate these elements

to the development of negligence law.

10-4. To analyze why tort litigation is so controversial in society today.

Torts Affecting

Business 10

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Just as contract law is the way owners

exchange what they own in a propertybased

legal system, so also tort law is an

important part of the same system. The property

fence protects our use of things. It is part of

what we own. But our protected use is not infinite.

It may be absolute but because we live with

other people and what is proper to them, we

may not use things just anyway we please. We

do not have a protected use of a thing if our use

harms what others own, including their persons.

Tort law helps define where the property fence is

when it comes to our use of things. It makes our

use legally wrongful and helps anyone injured

by our wrongful use to get compensation, called

“damages.”

T he word tort means “wrong.” Legally, a tort

is a civil wrong other than a breach of contract.

Tort law sets limits on how people can act and

use their resources so they do not violate the right

290 PART 3 Legal Foundations for Business

others have to their resources. If you think of property as a type of legal fence

surrounding resources, then tort law defines when someone has crossed that

fence wrongfully so that compensation is due to the owner.

Legal wrongs inflicted on the resources of others may be crimes as well as

torts (see Chapter 12), but the law of tort itself is civil rather than criminal.

The usual remedy for a tort is dollar damages. Behavior that constitutes a tort

is called tortious behavior. One who commits a tort is a tortfeasor.

This chapter divides torts into three main categories: intentional torts,

negligence torts, and strict liability torts. Intentional torts involve deliberate

actions that cause injury. Negligence torts involve injury following a failure to

use reasonable care. Strict liability torts impose legal responsibility for injury

even though a liable party neither intentionally nor negligently causes the

injury.

Important to torts are the concepts of duty and causation. One is not liable

for another’s injury unless he or she has a duty toward the person injured.

And, of course, there is usually no liability for injury unless one has caused the

injury. We explain these concepts under the discussion of negligence, where

they are most relevant.

This chapter also covers the topic of damages. The topic concerns the

business community because huge damage awards, frequently against businesses,

have become common in recent years.

>> Intentional Torts

An important element in the following torts is intent, as we are dealing with

intentional torts. Intent is usually defined as the desire to bring about certain

results. But in some circumstances the meaning is even broader, including not

only desired results but also results that are “substantially likely” to result

from an action. Recently, employers who knowingly exposed employees to

toxic substances without warning them of the dangers have been sued for

committing the intentional tort of battery. The employers did not desire their

employees’ injuries, but these injuries were “substantially likely” to result

from the failure to warn.