FYLSX Torts Principles & Liability Rules 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A store owner knows that a wet floor near the entrance frequently causes slips but posts no warning. A customer slips and is injured. Under premises liability, what is the store owner's duty to the customer?
- No duty because the customer assumed the risk by entering
- Duty of reasonable care because the customer is a business invitee (Correct answer)
- Duty only to warn, not to fix the hazard
- Duty of care only if the floor was intentionally made wet
Correct answer: Duty of reasonable care because the customer is a business invitee
Business invitees are owed the highest duty of care, requiring the owner to both warn of and remedy known hazards.
Question 2: During an argument, Dan shakes his fist inches from Paul's face, causing Paul to fear an immediate punch. Dan then walks away without touching Paul. Which tort best describes Paul's claim?
- Battery
- Assault (Correct answer)
- False imprisonment
- Intentional infliction of emotional distress
Correct answer: Assault
Assault requires an act creating reasonable apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive contact; no actual contact is needed.
Question 3: A pharmaceutical company sells a drug that is properly manufactured and includes adequate warnings, but a small percentage of users suffer unavoidable side effects. Under strict products liability, is the company liable?
- Yes, because strict liability applies to all product-related injuries
- No, because the product was not defective in manufacture or warning (Correct answer)
- Yes, because any harmful side effect creates liability
- No, because pharmaceuticals are entirely exempt from strict liability
Correct answer: No, because the product was not defective in manufacture or warning
Strict products liability requires a product defect; a properly manufactured product with adequate warnings is not defective.
Question 4: Alice negligently drives her car into Bob, breaking Bob's arm. Bob, a professional pianist, loses six months of income. Which element of negligence addresses Bob's lost earnings?
- Duty
- Breach
- Causation
- Damages (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Damages
Damages is the element requiring actual harm, including economic losses like lost earnings, for a negligence claim to succeed.
Question 5: A defendant publishes a false statement that a public figure committed fraud. To succeed in a defamation action, the public figure must prove:
- The statement was false and caused reputational harm
- The statement was false, published with actual malice, and caused harm (Correct answer)
- The statement was offensive and published without consent
- The statement was false and the defendant acted negligently
Correct answer: The statement was false, published with actual malice, and caused harm
Under New York Times v. Sullivan, public figures must prove actual malice — knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth.
Question 6: Tom intentionally starts a campfire in a dry forest during a fire ban. The fire spreads and destroys a neighbor's barn. What doctrine best supports the neighbor's recovery without proving negligence?
- Respondeat superior
- Res ipsa loquitur
- Strict liability for abnormally dangerous activities (Correct answer)
- Contributory negligence
Correct answer: Strict liability for abnormally dangerous activities
Strict liability for abnormally dangerous activities applies when a defendant engages in a highly dangerous activity regardless of the care taken.
Question 7: Carol is walking on a public sidewalk and trips on an uneven crack. She sues the city. The city argues governmental immunity. Under the modern trend, immunity is most likely waived for:
- Legislative acts
- Judicial acts
- Proprietary functions like maintaining sidewalks (Correct answer)
- All governmental activities
Correct answer: Proprietary functions like maintaining sidewalks
Governmental immunity is generally waived for proprietary functions — activities a private party could perform — such as maintaining public sidewalks.
FYLSX Torts Principles & Liability Rules 2
A store owner knows that a wet floor near the entrance frequently causes slips but posts no warning.
A customer slips and is injured.
Under premises liability, what is the store owner's duty to the customer?