Liability

Liable or Not?

• Stella Liebeck is burned from a hot cup of coffee from McDonalds and sues for $2.86 million because of “pain and suffering”

Liable or Not?

• Two teenagers girls knock on the door of Wanita Young’s house to give away free cookies. She files a lawsuit for $900 stating the knocks on her door caused an anxiety attack the next day.

Liable or Not?

• Roy Pearson sued his local dry cleaner for loosing his pair of pants. He asked for $65 million due to mental suffering, inconvenience and discomfort.

Liable or Not?

• Allen Heckard sued Michael Jordan and Nike for $832 million because of the suffering caused from being commonly mistaken for the basketball player

Liable or Not?

• An Israeli woman sued the local television station for $1,000 for predicting the wrong weather. She was inappropriately dressed, so she got sick and missed work.

Liable or Not?

• Judith and Jerome O’Callaghan sued American Airlines for $100,000 because the legroom in the airplane was not as large as anticipated and they suffered back and leg pain.

Settlement

• The two parties in a lawsuit meet outside of court to reach an agreement.– 90% of cases end in

settlement

The purpose of Tort Law:

• Compensate harmed individuals in a prompt and efficient way

• Fairly allocate benefits to victims

• Stop unreasonably dangerous conduct

Preponderance of Evidence

• This is the “Burden of Proof” is a civil (tort) case.

• Judges & Juries must be “fairly certain” the defendant is at fault– Not as strict as “beyond

a reasonable doubt”

Basis for Decisions

• Common Law: Previous court decisions– In the past persons who

caused an injury paid $1,000, future defendants will also pay $1,000

• Statutes: State Laws– N.C. Law says persons

causing injury must pay $1,000

Types of Torts

• Intentional Wrong: A person acts with the intent of injuring a person or property

Types of Torts

• Negligence: A person’s failure to use reasonable care causes harm

Types of Torts

• Strict Liability: The defendants activity is so dangerous that a plaintiff is not required to prove negligence or intended harm– Dangerous dogs

$$$$$ Damages $$$$$

• Money awarded to the plaintiff

• Compensatory Damages: the award covers the harm caused by the defendant– $3,000 covers medical

bills

$$$$$$$ Damages $$$$$$$

• Nominal Damages: money awarded a symbol– $1 million to

demonstrate the defendant is sorry for actions.

$$$$$$ Damages $$$$$$$$

• Punitive Damages: Money awarded to punish the defendant for willful, malicious acts– Defendant shoots a gun

and misses

Tort Reform

• The movement that focuses on changing the process of settling tort claims.– McDonalds coffee case

encouraged these changes

Tort Reform• Some advocate changing the

lawsuit process because:– The amount of money

awarded is too high– Going to court is too

expensive– Disputes take too long to

resolve– Complicated– Injured parties should

received compensation, no matter what

Ideas for Tort Reform:

• Parties must settle out of court first

• Limit how much a plaintiff can receive for economic & non-economic (punitive) damages

• “No-fault” systems

Popular Opinion• A survey of 800 residents

revealed people thought 40 percent of civil suits were personal injury claims.– Actually fewer than 5% were

tort claims• Many did not realize how

many cases settled out of court– 93% settle out of court

• Most thought average remedy more than $200,000– Average is under $30,000

Worker’s Compensation• If a worker is hurt on the job

and cannot work, they may receive 2/3 of their salary…but cannot file a lawsuit.

• Commercial

• Exclusive Remedy: State law determines the compensation based on seriousness of injury.– Workers will not be

compensated, if they were intoxicated.