Intentional torts are wrongful acts done on purpose. The person does not need to actually mean harm, but the other person ends up hurt anyway, such as in a prank. Or, the person can definitely mean harm, such as domestic violence cases.
A "tort" is some kind of wrongful act that causes harm to someone else. This definition covers a wide range of actions, and the legal field of torts is split up into many different subcategories.
One of the ways torts are split up is by the mental state of the person that does the wrongdoing; for instance, torts often are caused by someone's negligence. When the person that acts wrongly actually intends to perform the action, it becomes what is known as an "intentional tort."
The easiest example of an intentional tort is a punch to the face, which is referred to as "battery." In this case:
This law can be tricky, however. Sometimes the person who performs an intentional tort did not intend the harm. For example, if you surprise someone with an unstable heart condition, and the fright causes that person to have a heart attack, you commit an intentional tort, even if you did not intend to scare that person into a heart attack.
Intentional torts are a wrongful act that someone plans, carries out, and is fully aware of their actions. Since many of these acts also may be charged as crimes, you may notice some similarities. For instance, the family of a murder victim may sue the perpetrator (whether or not they are convicted of the crime) for wrongful death. The following are some of the more common intentional tort claims.
Battery is the legal term for hitting someone, or otherwise touching them in an offensive manner (such as the case of sexual battery), which comes from the verb "to batter." This covers a surprising range of activities, including sending projectiles into someone else's body, as in firing a gun. Keep in mind that battery also is the term used for a criminal charge for a similar act, often charged alongside assault.
An assault is an attempted battery, or threatening injury when no battery takes place. If someone points a gun at you, causing fear of immediate danger, it could be claimed as an assault.
The technical definition of false imprisonment is "confinement without legal authority." Generally, no one is allowed to restrict another person's movement against her will. There are two major exceptions to this. Police generally have the authority to detain people they reasonably suspect of crimes. The other exception is called the "shopkeeper's privilege," which allows shopkeepers to keep people they suspect of shoplifting for a reasonable amount of time.
In order to prove a claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress, a plaintiff has to prove that someone else engaged in extreme or outrageous conduct, with the intent of frightening someone else, and caused severe emotional distress or bodily harm. These claims are very difficult to prove in court.
Fraud is the legal term for lying to someone. In order to succeed in a suit for fraud, plaintiffs generally have to prove:
Fraud also may be charged as a crime.
Defamation is when someone knowingly says something false about someone else, and that lie causes harm. It includes both written (traditionally, libel) and spoken (traditionally, slander) words.
The exact nature of the invasion of privacy varies by state, but there are generally four types of invasions of privacy:
Trespass comes in two forms: trespass to land, and trespass to chattel, or personal property. In either case, trespass means using the property without the permission of the owner.
Conversion is when someone takes someone else's property and "converts" it to their own. In the criminal world, conversion is known as theft.
If someone's intentional acts caused you injury, you may have a valid legal claim against them. But how do you find out if you'd be eligible to receive damages for your injuries? The best way is to speak with a local personal injury attorney who can evaluate the facts of your case and provide personalized legal advice.
