Tort Law
Torts are civil wrongs documented by law as basis for a lawsuit. These wrongs always lead to damages that constitute the injured party to claim for justice. The main aim of torts is to provide support for the damages that have taken place and to prevent other people from committing the same crimes. Several damages in which the injured may recover include pain and suffering, medical expenses and loss of capacity to earn. This is inclusive of both present and future losses (Lowther, 2011).
Torts are divided into three general categories that include intentional torts, whereby a person is aware of a certain wrongdoing and acts intentionally; negligent torts where a person ignores the existing laws; and strict liability torts where a person incurs losses by making or selling faulty products (Cornell University Law School, 2010).
Intentional infliction of emotional distress is one of the torts. This involves a behavior that is so stern that it leads to emotional suffering and shock in the victim. This tort has four elements: the defendant must act deliberately or carelessly, the conduct of the defendant must be severe, the conduct must be the cause and severe emotional pain. The conduct of the defendant must be very severe, so that it is considered as intolerable in a civil community. In addition to being outrageous, the defendant must act with recklessness in that he must cause severe emotional distress. Extreme emotional distress can be in the form of embarrassment, fear, grief and shame. It is the role of the court to make a judgment whether the defendant behavior is so severe to be considered for recovery (Lowther, 2011).
Intentional infliction of emotional distress is experienced in some cases where an employer practices sexual discrimination in the work place, his conduct is extremely outrageous to some of the employees, and the conduct violates the criminal law. It should be noted that this does not include hurt feelings, insults or rough language but the employer’s conduct must violate the criminal law (Cornell University Law School, 2010).
Product liability law refers to a lawsuit against a manufacturer of a product, which claims that a group of people was wounded or damaged by a product that was faulty, therefore not suitable for consumption. The lawsuit includes the manufacturer, the one who assembles the manufactured products, the wholesaler and the retailer. Products that have many defects can cause harm to the consumer of the product or to someone who was loaned the product, therefore these are considered as product liability suits. Negligence, breach of warranty of fitness or strict liability are the base for product liability claims. In any of the cases, one must prove that the products are faulty. Faulty products are categorizes as: design defects, whereby these defects exist even before a product is manufactured; manufacturing defects, this occurs during the production of a certain product; and defects in marketing, which occurs when the consumers are not given enough information concerning the product (Lowther, 2011).
Assault is a crime, which occurs when a person physically harms another person, therefore the other person feels threatened. Physical contact is not essential; using gestures that may threaten someone constitute to assault. There are several elements of assault which include: an action that is intended to cause harm to the victim, the action must be overt; a mere threat is not enough, but if its combined with a raised fist it becomes sufficient to be referred to as an assault. Intent is another important element of assault. This is satisfied if the intentions are clear whether it will cause harm as a result.
Assault is rampant in our society and is clearly manifested in the communication networks where criminals send threatening messages in order to gain some favors from the victims. In some extreme situations, the criminals kidnap and torture victims physically. The intentions of these criminals are to inflict fear to the victims, so that they gain what they want and this is considered as assault. The defendant for civil assault is responsible for damages and the amount to be given to the victim is determined by the jury (Cornell University Law School, 2010).