Business owners may find their business affected when others commit acts of harm against them. A tort is defined as a civil wrong. A tort can be based on an intentional act or an unintentional act (such as negligence, which is a deviation from how a reasonably prudent person would act). There are different types of torts, each with different elements and requirements to be proved in court. In addition to negligence, the different types of torts include deceit, defamation, and injurious falsehood. There are also legal protections for people who commit a tort. For example, in a defamation case, privilege protects a person from being legally responsible for their defamatory comments.
At A Glance
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Civil conspiracy happens when two or more people agree to work together to do an unlawful act. For an action to be a civil conspiracy, the goal must be a tortious act—in other words, a wrongful action. Two or more people must agree to act with each other to achieve an unlawful goal that harms another, and damage must result.
- Torts that could be part of a civil conspiracy include unfair competition, wrongful interference with a business relationship, or any other business tort. Intimidation is both an economic and intentional tort. It happens when a person threatens to engage in unlawful conduct, backed up by a specific threat or demands.
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Deceit happens when one person intentionally misleads another and causes damages. Deceit may take the form of propaganda, concealment, camouflage, distraction, sleight of hand, or trickery.
- In a fraud case, the person bringing the lawsuit must prove material misrepresentation, intent to induce reliance, justifiable reliance, and injury.
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Defamation law protects the reputation of people and businesses from false statements that deter others from doing business with them. The types of defamation are libel and slander.
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Privilege protects a person from legal responsibility for a wrongful act. There are two types of privilege: absolute and qualified.
- An injurious falsehood is a false statement that causes intentional damage to a person's business. Types of injurious falsehood include disparagement of property, slander of goods, and trade libel.
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Privacy is the right to be left alone or to have one's personal information shielded from the public. Businesses may have an obligation to protect customers' personal information and to help reduce the risk of identity theft. Currently the person who inputs the data is generally considered to own the rights to store and use that data, regardless of how it was obtained.
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Negligence is a breach of a duty of care that results in damage. The elements of a negligence claim are duty, breach of duty, causation, and damages. If the party bringing the lawsuit meets the burden of proof to make an "on its face" case of negligence, then the defendant can either try to disprove the evidence or introduce new evidence.
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Contributory negligence means that if the party bringing the lawsuit even slightly contributed to the negligence that created the harm, then that party will get no compensation. Comparative negligence is a method of allocating damages when both parties share in the fault or negligence.
