Exam 5: Torts and Strict Liability

When a student states in a written student evaluation that her professor is boring and uninspiring,if in fact her professor has won the professor of the year award for the past three years,she is committing libel.

Mike owns a pet tiger that he keeps in his back yard.He has a 24-foot fence placed around his property that he tops with barbed wire and has electrified.Maria,while drunk,accidentally drives her car into the fence and the tiger escapes.The tiger enters a neighbor's house and attacks Monica.If Monica sues:

Passersby are generally not expected to rescue others gratuitously to save them from harm.

Actual cause is also called causation in ________.

Whatsamatter U.has just fired Mike,professor who has been very critical of the administration,even though he has been a very effective and popular professor.He has also won numerous awards for his research.A school that Mike has applied to has asked for a reference and the president of Whatsamatter U.,intending to hurt Mike's career,replies by letter that Mike was a poor teacher,hated by his students and did research of questionable quality.Mike does not get the job because of the poor reference.If Mike finds out about the reference,he can likely succeed in suing on the basis of:

The doctrine that shifts the burden of proof from the plaintiff to the defendant is:

The legal effect of the presence of a superseding event is that:

Which of the following is true regarding the tort of assault?

A rare example of negligent infliction of emotional distress involves a bystander who witnesses the injury or death of a relative caused by another's negligent conduct.

Donovan takes his date to a sports bar to have a beer and watch the big football game.When a play goes against the local team,the other patrons start yelling obscenities,which greatly upsets his date.She asks the other customers to watch their language and one of them curses at her telling her to mind her own business.She is so appalled that she runs out of the bar crying.She can sue the bar and its patrons for intentional infliction of emotional distress.

A false arrest is also a false imprisonment,but not all false imprisonments are also false arrests.

A "product disparagement" claim may be brought for an untrue statement regarding a product of a business.

Under the doctrine of ________ tort,commonly referred to as negligence,a person is liable for harm that is the ________ consequences of his or her action.

In order to be liable for a negligence tort,one must have intended the consequences of the act or conduct in question.

Contributory negligence and comparative negligence result in the same outcome.

Discuss the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur in terms of creating or maintaining justice.Is it fair to the defendant?

In a negligence action,defendants with a particular expertise or competence are measured against a "reasonable professional" standard.

The doctrine of res ipsa loquitur constitutes a type of defense to a negligence action.

Under the inferred intent doctrine,the law transfers the perpetrator's intent from the target to the actual victim of the act.

Sam is a business executive who flies often in connection with work.After the September,2001 terrorists' destruction in New York and Washington,Sam flew less frequently.In response to the attacks,new federal regulations made the federal government responsible for all airport security personnel.In most cases,including at Sam's home airport,the government met the obligation by hiring private contractors to provide the security services.These firms were heavily regulated and controlled by the government.Also,in the new regulations were profiling guidelines that required additional security screenings for persons meeting such guidelines.These guidelines were partly secret,but it was known that members of certain races were much more likely to fall within them.In addition,on average,six times as many males as females met the guidelines.Shortly after these regulations were in place,Sam went to his airport and found extremely long lines at the security checkpoint.He waited in line nearly three hours.As he was about 10 people away from being screened,an irate passenger,Marvin,came running through the line screaming that he was about to miss his flight.Marvin accidentally hit Sam forcefully,breaking Sam's arm.In addition,Sam had his pet ferret (a small animal,an exotic pet)in his coat pocket.The impact caused the ferret to die.Marvin said that the slowness and incompetence of the security personnel had caused him to "lose it." When Sam reached the security checkpoint,he was pulled aside for additional screening.This involved waiting in an additional line for 30 minutes longer.Sam learned that he had to go through the additional security because he was returning home on the same day,had no checked baggage,and was male.Sam has sued both the security screening company and Marvin for his injuries and the loss of his ferret,and emotional distress related to these.Discuss Sam's claims,any defenses and their likely resolution.