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What Is Tort Law? - Denition and Examples

Chapter 21 (/academy/topic/torts.html) / Lesson 1
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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 injuries
suered.

Tort Law: Three Types of Torts

Torts are wrongdoings that are done by one party against another. As a result of the
wrongdoing, 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 fallen
from a shelf. You become the plainti, or injured party, and the grocery store is considered
the tortfeasor or defendant, the negligent party.
Simply said, you would probably take civil action against the grocery store to recoup
compensation 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 of
the 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 duty
owed 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 or
incarceration. The punishment for tortious acts usually involves restoring the injured party
monetarily. Sometimes a court order may force the tortfeasor to either do or not do
something. Think trespassing, defamation or slander. Let's explore the three types of torts:
Intentional torts
Negligence torts
Strict liability torts
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Intentional Torts
An intentional tort is an act that is intentionally committed against another person with the
aim 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 every
injury-producing action is cause for an intentional tort lawsuit. The court will look at the
conduct of the defendant to determine whether the actions were, in fact, intentional or just
mere willful and wanton behavior not specically meant to cause fear or injury, but is
considered reckless.
Betty Geeslin, a personal representative of Bill Geeslin in Bill Geeslin v. Kobe Bryant, is one of
those 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 basketball
player Bryant ran to retrieve an out-of-bounds ball. As he reached for the ball, he lost his
footing 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 visit
an emergency room. Once examined, it was diagnosed that he suered a bruising and a
crushed lung. He was prescribed several pain medications and a breathing machine and sent
home.
After a few weeks of home treatment, Geeslin decided to sue Bryant for assault, battery and
iniction of emotional distress. Geeslin claimed that when Kobe attempted to remove himself
from Geeslin's chest, he used extreme force to push away, causing injury. Geeslin also claimed
that he could no longer sleep at night, suered anxiety and felt embarrassed by the incident in
general.
When the court analyzed the case, it felt that the elements for tortious behavior were not
present. Specically, Geeslin assumed the risk of injury by choosing courtside seats. Bryant in
no way intended to cause injury to Geeslin at the time of the initial fall or as he attempted to
return to the court, and a reasonable person would not conclude that the incident was so
seriously traumatic that Geeslin suered emotional distress to the degree he claimed. In a
motion 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 maintained
the claim against Bryant until time of nal judgment. However, Bryant settled with the estate
out of court for the sum of $75,000 to put a rest to any further appeals or complaints against
him. Our next torts deal with actions that cause injury that do not have intentional
characteristics.

Negligence Torts

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Negligence occurs when a party fails to demonstrate the kind of care a prudent person would
take in the same situation and an injury results from the action or inaction. There are ve
elements 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 what
happens in a comical case involving negligence.
In Byrne v. Boadle (1863), Byrne was walking down the street when a barrel full of our fell out
of a window and landed upon him, causing the plainti injury. In this case, the our shop
owed anyone walking on the sidewalk below the window a duty of care. In other words, a our
barrel should not be in a window where it could fall. The defendant should have used
reasonable care that the our barrels are stored in an area of the shop where injury to a
passer-by could not possibly happen. Byrne was injured because of the our shop's
negligence in storing our barrels appropriately, leaving the our shop solely responsible for
this injury. Needless to say, this was a prima facie case because the evidence was strong
enough on face value to convince a court to rule in favor of the plainti.

Strict Liability Torts

Cases involving strict liability are similar to negligence. In these instances, the defendant may
be responsible for damages even if the defendant was not negligent. This may seem counterintuitive, but it makes sense. Let's take the dog bite law as an example.

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