1. Tort Law Jody Blanke Ernest L. Baskin, Jr. Distinguished
Professor of Computer Information Systems and Law

2. Torts
Strict Liability
Intentional Torts
Negligence

3. Strict Liability Liability without fault Ultrahazardous activities
neither intent nor negligence need be shown
Ultrahazardous activities
e.g., dynamite blasting
e.g., ownership of wild animals
lions and tigers and bears …

4. Intentional Torts Battery Assault False Imprisonment
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress

5. Invasion of Privacy Appropriation of name or likeness
Intrusion upon seclusion
False light
Publication of private embarrassing facts
Silvia Leyva at Café Intermezzo, Perimeter

6. Appropriation of Name or Likeness
Earliest privacy cases
Ex. Michael Jordan Wine

7. Intrusion Upon Seclusion
Jackie O
Holiday Inn
Mazzio’s Pizza
Sean Penn
Bill Gates
Bob Dylan
Katz
Kyllo

8. U. S. v. Katz (1967)
Introduced the “reasonable expectation of privacy” standard
The FBI had placed a tape recorder between two telephone booths and recorded Katz making or taking bets

9. Your Home is Your Castle
Kyllo v. U.S. (2001)
Thermal imaging of a home constitutes a search
Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)
Supreme Court upheld Georgia sodomy law
Lawrence v. Texas (2003)
Supreme Court overturned Bowers

10. Your Workplace?
Not so much

11. False Light
Parade Magazine article on Teenage Prostitution

12. Publication of Private Embarrassing Facts
“Joe Hero”
Potomac River plane crash
Assassination attempt on Gerald Ford

13. Defamation Libel and slander Truth is a defense Richard Jewell
against media defendant, must prove “actual malice”

14. Trespass Trespass to land Conversion
Trespass to personal property (trespass to chattels)

15. Interference with Contractual Relations
$10.5B award against Texaco for interfering with Penzoil’s contract to buy Getty (later settled for $3B)
“Ditch the dish”

16. Negligence
Duty
Breach of Duty
Causation
Injury

17. Duty of Care Reasonable person standard Is there a legal duty?
e.g., Lady Di, Seinfeld finale, Good Samaritan laws

18. Breach of Duty
What would the reasonable person do in similar circumstances?
Professional standard – malpractice
Negligence per se
Res ipsa loquitur
A burden of proof shifting doctrine

19. Causation Actual cause (causation in fact) “but for” analysis
e.g., Rube Goldberg cartoons, Mouse Trap

20. Causation Proximate cause (legal cause) foreseeabilty
e.g., Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad
e.g., Crankshaw v. Piedmont Driving Club

21. Injury
Plaintiff must prove injury
Injury need not be personal injury