Intentional Torts Against Persons Flashcards

A man puts his arm around a woman's shoulders without her permission at a party. She is offended but not harmed. Which tort, if any, has been committed?

Answer: Battery, because it was offensive contact without consent

Battery encompasses offensive contact without consent even if not harmful; unconsented touching that a reasonable person would find offensive qualifies.

A plaintiff suffers only nominal emotional discomfort — not severe distress — after a defendant's harassing phone calls. Can she recover for IIED?

Answer: No, because IIED requires severe emotional distress as an element

Severe emotional distress is a required element of IIED; nominal discomfort or embarrassment does not meet this threshold.

A defendant intends to commit false imprisonment against Person A but accidentally confines Person B in the same room. Under transferred intent, is the defendant liable for false imprisonment of Person B?

Answer: Yes, because transferred intent applies to false imprisonment as one of the five recognized torts

Transferred intent applies to five torts: assault, battery, false imprisonment, trespass to land, and trespass to chattels.

A defendant threatens to release embarrassing photographs unless the plaintiff remains at the defendant's home. The plaintiff stays for hours out of fear of reputational harm. Is this false imprisonment?

Answer: Yes, because confinement by duress through threats can constitute false imprisonment

False imprisonment can be accomplished by threats of harm — including reputational harm — sufficient to overcome a reasonable person's will to leave.

A defendant, while playing a prank, removes the wheelchair of a disabled plaintiff, preventing her from leaving a room. She is aware of the confinement. Which elements of false imprisonment are clearly satisfied?

Answer: Intent to confine and actual confinement with awareness

False imprisonment requires intent to confine, actual confinement, and the plaintiff's awareness of or harm from the confinement — all present here.

Which of the following acts would most clearly constitute assault under tort law?

Answer: A defendant lunges at the plaintiff with a knife from two feet away

Assault requires an act (not words alone) creating reasonable apprehension of imminent harmful contact; lunging with a knife at close range satisfies this.

A plaintiff with an unusually sensitive personality suffers extreme distress from conduct that most people would find only mildly upsetting. The defendant was unaware of the plaintiff's sensitivity. Can the plaintiff recover for IIED?

Answer: No, because the extreme and outrageous standard is objective, not based on the plaintiff's unusual sensitivity

IIED uses an objective standard for outrageousness; a defendant is not liable for distress caused by conduct that only a hypersensitive plaintiff would find intolerable unless the defendant knew of the sensitivity.