{"id":7905,"date":"2016-10-21T15:19:43","date_gmt":"2016-10-21T15:19:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/masterybusiness2xngcxmasterspring2016\/?post_type=chapter&p=7905"},"modified":"2017-04-18T18:40:04","modified_gmt":"2017-04-18T18:40:04","slug":"tort-law-liability-and-damages","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-hccc-introbusiness\/chapter\/tort-law-liability-and-damages\/","title":{"raw":"Tort Law, Liability, and Damages","rendered":"Tort Law, Liability, and Damages"},"content":{"raw":"

Tort Law<\/h2>\r\n\"Photo<\/a>\r\n\r\nIn common law jurisdictions, a\u00a0tort<\/b>\u00a0is a civil wrong\u00a0that unfairly causes someone else to suffer loss or harm, resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act. Although crimes may be torts, the cause of legal action is not necessarily a crime, as the harm may be due to negligence<\/strong>. The following video explains what negligence is.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/ZZGvV5MVkps\r\n\r\nThe victim of the harm can recover his or her\u00a0loss as damages in a lawsuit. In order to prevail, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, commonly referred to as the injured party, must show that the action or lack of action was the legally recognizable cause of the harm.\r\n\r\nLegal injuries<\/b> are not limited to physical injuries and may include emotional, economic, or reputational injuries, as well as violations of privacy, property, or constitutional rights. Torts include\u00a0such varied topics as auto accidents, false imprisonment, defamation, product liability, copyright infringement, and environmental pollution (toxic torts). While many torts are the result of negligence, tort law also recognizes intentional torts, in which\u00a0a person has intentionally acted in a way that harms another. In addition, when it comes to product liability, the courts have established a doctrine of \"strict liability\" for torts arising from injury caused by the use of a company's product and\/or service. Under \"strict liability,\" the injured party does not have to prove that the company was negligent in order to win a claim for damages.\r\n\r\nTort law is different from criminal law in two ways: (1) torts may result from negligent as well as intentional or criminal actions, and (2) tort lawsuits have a lower burden of proof, such as \"preponderance of evidence\" rather than \"beyond a reasonable doubt.\" Sometimes a plaintiff may prevail in a tort case even if the person who allegedly caused harm was acquitted in an earlier criminal trial. For example, O. J. Simpson was acquitted in criminal court of murder but later found liable for the tort of wrongful death.\r\n\r\nFor businesses, torts that arise from product liability can have\u00a0devastating consequences. Let's examine product liability in greater detail.\r\n

Product Liability<\/h2>\r\n
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Product liability<\/strong> is the area of law in which product manufacturers, distributors, and sellers are held responsible for the injuries caused by their products. Traditionally, product liability cases were decided according to\u00a0the theory\u00a0of\u00a0negligence<\/strong>. Negligence is behavior that results in an unintentional injury or causes unintentional harm. Product liability law has evolved, however, and most states have extended product liability into the category of strict liability tort, too.<\/strong>\u00a0Strict liability torts<\/span><\/span><\/strong> involve actions that are inherently dangerous and for which a party may be liable no matter how carefully he or she (or it) performs those actions<\/em>. Regardless of whether the product liability claim is based upon negligence or strict liability, a product liability claim results from either a design defect, a manufacturing defect, or a failure to warn. To better appreciate the issues involved in cases of strict liability, let\u2019s return to where we left you and your summer house-painting business at the beginning of this module.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\"Photo<\/a><\/p>\r\nHaving escaped the house-painting business relatively unscathed, you head back home to rethink your options for gainful employment during\u00a0your summer vacation. You\u2019ve stored your only remaining capital assets\u2014the two ladders and the platform that you\u2019d used for scaffolding\u2014in your father\u2019s garage. One afternoon, your uncle notices them.\r\n\r\nExamining one of the ladders, he asks you how much weight it\u2019s designed to hold, and you tell him what the department manager at Ladders \u2019n\u2019 Things told you: three hundred pounds per rung. Sensing that he might want to buy them, you hasten to add that, although you got them at a cut-rate price because of a little rust, they\u2019re virtually brand-new. As it turns out, your uncle\u00a0doesn\u2019t want to buy the ladders, but he does offer to pay you $35 an hour to take them to his house and help him put up new roofing. He\u2019s easygoing, he\u2019s family, and he probably won\u2019t sue you for anything, so you jump at the opportunity.\r\n\r\nEverything goes smoothly until day two, when you\u2019re working on the scaffolding two stories off the ground. In the process of unwrapping a bundle of shingles, one of the ladders buckles, and the entire platform comes down\u2014landing you on your uncle\u2019s stone patio with a cervical fracture.\r\n\r\nFortunately, there\u2019s no damage to your spinal cord, but you\u2019re in pain and you need surgery. Now it\u2019s your turn to sue somebody. But whom? And for what?\r\n

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Pursuing a Claim of Product Liability<\/h3>\r\nNot surprising,\u00a0your lawyer advises you to file an action for product liability<\/span><\/span>\u2014a claim of injury suffered because of a defective product (in your case, the ladder, of course). He goes on to say that in cases of product liability, there are three major bases\u00a0for\u00a0product liability claims. Section 2 of the Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability<\/i>\u00a0identifies the following: manufacturing defect, design defect, failure to warn (also known as marketing defects). These are explained below:\r\n