Civil Liability Issues

Chapter 7
 Objectives

• Define
– Intentional torts of battery, assault, false
imprisonment, intentional infliction of severe
emotional distress, trespass, trespass to chattels,
conversion, and misrepresentation

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 Objectives

• Explain how consent is a defense to battery, assault,

and false imprisonment.
• Define implied and informed consent.
• Explain that a competent adult has an absolute right
to decline medical care.

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 Objectives

• Identify factors involved in determining if a person

lacks capacity to consent to, or decline, medical
care.
• Explain what should be done to document refusals
of care against medical advice.

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 Objectives

• Explain the difference between slander, slander per

se, and libel.
• Identify the four invasion-of-privacy torts.

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 Civil Liability

• Tort
– A “civil wrong”
• Definition
– Committed by one or more parties that cause
injury to another
• Law allows a remedy of monetary damages

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 Three Basic Types of Torts

1. Intentional
2. Negligence
3. Strict liability

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 Battery

• Battery is an intentional unpermitted contact with

another person
• Includes a broad range of acts
• Does not require hostile intent
• Damages are presumed plus defendant is liable for
any actual damages

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 Consent

• Defense to a battery
• Voluntary and knowingly given
• Person must have capacity to consent
– Critical consideration for emergency responders

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Battery by Medical Personnel

• Treatment provided against a person’s will

• Exceeds consent granted by patient
• If consent is obtained through fraud
– Doctor not licensed
– Medical procedure is a sham
– Without informed consent

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 Informed Consent

• Patient must be informed of what the procedure

involves and possible risks
• Lesser requirement in prehospital environment
• Patient still must consent
– Consent can be implied from lack of refusal

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 Implied Consent

• Treatment rendered to person unable to consent

• Provider must have no reason to believe treatment
would be declined
• Treatment necessary to save life and limb

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 Assault

• Placing another in fear or apprehension of an

imminent battery
• Damages are presumed

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 False Imprisonment

• Unlawfully restraining free movement of another

against that person’s will
• Does not require imprisonment
• Restraint must be complete
• Once proven, damages are presumed and actual
damages are also allowed

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 False Imprisonment

• Restraint
– Physical barriers
– Threats of force
– Assertion of legal authority
• Restraint need only be momentary
• Person must be aware of restraint

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Intentional Infliction of Severe
Emotional Distress

• Intentional or reckless conduct that may cause

severe emotional distress to another
• Must be more than simple joking or teasing
– Beyond bounds of decency

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Intentional Infliction of Severe
Emotional Distress

• Typically involves outrageous hazing or a

continuous pattern of conduct directed at a person
• Telephone calls, hate mail, threats
• Single action will suffice

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 Trespass

• Intentional entry onto land of another without

consent
• Trespasser is liable for any damages
– Intentional, careless, or accidental fires

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 Trespass

• First criterion
– Someone who enters the land of another without
permission
• Second criterion
– Someone who enters land of another after having
been warned not to

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 Trespass Examples

• Dumping rubbish on someone’s property

• Flying a model airplane over someone’s house
• Building a fence on a neighbor’s property

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 Conversion

• Unauthorized taking of personal property

• Allows civil recovery of damages for property that is
stolen, embezzled, destroyed, or damaged severely

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 Misrepresentation
(Fraud)
• Misrepresentation or deceit
• False representation of material fact
• Made with intent to induce victim to rely thereon,
resulting in damages

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 Bad Faith

• New tort
• Arose out of insurance contract law
• Intentional failure to comply with terms of a contract
(usually insurance)

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 Defamation

• Damage to another person’s reputation

– False, harmful, and unprivileged statements
• Two types
– Slander = oral
– Libel = written
• Both require publication

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 Slander

• False spoken word or gesture

• Generally must prove monetary loss
– Monetary loss = special damages
– Lost business, lost wages, psychiatrist bills, etc.
• Exception
– “Slander per se”

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 Libel

• Written or printed falsehoods

• Damages are presumed
– Even in absence of actual monetary loss
• At common law
– Libel was a crime

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 Defenses to Defamation

• Truth
– An absolute defense to defamation
• Privilege
• Defamation of a public figure requires actual malice

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 Invasion of Privacy

• Four distinct torts

1. Unreasonable intrusion on seclusion
2. Appropriation of another’s name or likeness
3. Unreasonable publicity
4. Publicity placing another in a false light

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 Invasion of Privacy

• Damages for invasions of privacy may include

amounts for:
– Resulting illness
– Harm to victim’s business interests
– Profits that the perpetrator may have recognized
from his or her misconduct

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 Invasion of Privacy

• Damages may be presumed for affront to person’s

dignity
– Similar to other intentional torts such as battery,
assault, and false imprisonment

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 Summary

• Definition of a tort
• Battery
• Assault
• False imprisonment
• Consent

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 Summary

• Intentional infliction of severe emotional distress

• Trespass
• Trespass to chattels
• Conversion

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 Summary

• Fraud
• Bad faith
• Defamation
• Invasion of privacy

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