UNIT II TORTS
2
Torts
Torts are personal in nature and are under the legal category of civil law and not criminal law, which means that some torts may involve conduct that may not be criminal, but causes harm
to the individual (Cihon & Castagnera, 2017). Tort law states that the victim needs to somehow be compensated for their injury or loss. There are three elements of a tort action, which are often referred to as the three-legged stool. All three must be present to have a valid claim. These are a duty; a breach of that duty; and damages resulting from the breach of that duty (Cihon & Castagnera, 2017). The plaintiff must provide evidence that the defendant was under a legal duty
to behave in a specific way and that the defendant did not perform according to their duty and that the plaintiff suffered loss as a result of this infringement. Whether a defendant violated a duty owed to plaintiff is determined by the common law or by statutory law. The common law is the general body of law that has developed over many years through court decisions or “opinions”. The most common workplace torts are defamation, retaliatory demotion, theft of proprietary information, tortious interference with contract, negligent infliction of emotional distress and intentional emotional distress (Cihon & Castagnera, 2017). An individual is considered "defamed" when one person communicates a false accusation about that individual, to
a third party, which caused damage to that individual’s reputation. For example, when a negative employment reference allegedly prevented that individual from obtaining new job and would amount to defamation, if the information was false. Allegations of work defamation also requires an exchange of a false statement to a third party and as long as the employer did not act with malice when they made the false suggestion, qualified privilege can protect employers from
