Question 1

Violations of safety statutes are sometimes referred to as negligence ______.

Accepted Answer

per se

Question 2

Conversion occurs when a party interferes with the ________ of another's property.

Accepted Answer

ownership

Question 3

________ is typically defined as intentionally committing a wrongful act with intent to harm.

Accepted Answer

Malice

Question 4

Jimmy is annoyed because his neighbor's dog is constantly barking. He intentionally walks up to the dog in his neighbor's yard and viciously kicks it. Jimmy has committed battery.

Accepted Answer

Battery is the intentional touching of a human being and does not apply to dogs. Jimmy may be guilty of animal cruelty or a similar criminal charge, but he has not committed the tort of battery.

Question 5

Store management may detain a suspected shoplifter without liability for false imprisonment based on the concept of ______.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Store management may detain a suspected shoplifter...

Question 6

Lost revenue or profits, whether actual or potential, are called ________ harm.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Lost revenue or profits, whether actual or...

Question 7

The loss of marital relations and spousal companionship is called loss of ______.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The loss of marital relations and spousal...

Question 8

Laws that impose liability on liquor stores and bars are called ________ laws.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Laws that impose liability on liquor stores...

Question 9

Ms. Bobbin, your ethics teacher, is a first-year professor, just out of school, and she is very tough and demanding. You've done poorly on the first two tests, and you think it's her fault. Someone tells you that she has a criminal past, and, without verification, you spread this allegation. In fact, Ms. Bobbin has been a model citizen and never broken the law. As a result of your actions, she is put on probation, pending an investigation. She cannot sue for defamation because, as a professor, she is a public figure and your conduct was intentional but not a careless disregard of the truth or an act done with malice.

Accepted Answer

Ms. Bobbin does not rise to the level of a public figure, and stricter standards do not apply.

Question 10

Res ipsa loquitur does not require that the plaintiff prove the exact cause of negligence.

Accepted Answer

Res ipsa loquitur is used when an accident could not have occurred in the absence of negligence but the actual negligent act cannot be proved.

Question 11

Mike is having coffee in a coffee house when he sees Jordan, who is the dean of a Midwest business school. Mike used to teach at Jordan's prior school and was considered a very valuable faculty member. They haven't seen each other for years, and Jordan has no idea what Mike has been doing or where he's currently working. She tells him that she has a position for him if he's interested. The next day Mike quits the university he's under contract with and signs a contract with Jordan's school. Jordan's school can be sued for tortious interference with existing contractual relationship.

Accepted Answer

Jordan did not have specific knowledge of Mike's contract.

Question 12

Physical harm or injury is required to prove a case of intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Accepted Answer

Emotional or mental distress must be proved, but physical harm is not required.

Question 13

Jennifer is having a party and has invited her friends to her home. These social guests would be legally classified as ______.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Jennifer is having a party and has...

Question 14

When a seller makes a representation of fact about a product, this is known as an ________ warranty.

Accepted Answer

The answer of When a seller makes a representation of...

Question 15

Mike goes to his local bike shop to buy a cyclometer (which measures speed, distance, etc.). He tells the salesperson that he wants the best cyclometer on the market, and she shows him a cyclometer and states that particular brand and model was actually used by some participants in the 2013 Tour de France bicycle race and is the best Mike can buy. Mike buys the cyclometer. As it turns out, 8 of the 189 riders indeed used the brand and model bought by Mike, with the other 181 using various other brands and models. In actuality, there is no acknowledged top brand and model, and use is subject to personal tastes. The salesperson has committed a fraudulent misrepresentation by stating that the brand and model sold to Mike was the best.

Accepted Answer

The salesperson did not quantify the number of riders using the particular cyclometer and was giving an opinion with regard to the product being the best. No fraud has occurred.

Question 16

Because there is no general duty to act or assist others, a store is not liable if, after washing a floor, it fails to notify the public of the slippery condition and someone is injured. Stores give such notification as a convenience to customers but not because of a legal duty.

Accepted Answer

Stores do have a legal duty to warn and assist due to their special relationship with customers and visitors.

Question 17

The case of Mattison v. Johnston held that competition is not a valid excuse for breaking a restrictive covenant that was created to avoid just such practices and that inducing someone to break a restrictive covenant is tortious conduct.

Accepted Answer

Knowing that someone is under contract and inducing him or her to breach that contract is a punishable tort.

Question 18

Sally is walking her 6-month-old baby in a stroller. Mark, a stranger, looks into the stroller and says, "Wow, that's one ugly baby." Sally is furious and sues Mark for intentional infliction of emotional distress. She will likely lose.

Accepted Answer

While rude and boorish, Mark's statement did not rise to the level of extreme, outrageous, or reckless conduct required to win such a case.

Question 19

Courts are bound by the Restatement of Torts, once it is published.

Accepted Answer

Restatements of the Law are secondary sources of law that are not binding on the courts.

Question 20

Every time you hit the delete button on your new computer you get a small electric shock. Your friends with the same computer are suffering the same problem. These computers have a ________ defect.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Every time you hit the delete button...

Quiz 10: Torts and Products Liability