JD Torts 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The 'eggshell skull' (thin skull) rule in tort law holds that a defendant is liable for:
- Foreseeable injuries only
- The full extent of plaintiff's injuries, even if the plaintiff had unusual vulnerability (Correct answer)
- Injuries proportional to defendant's fault
- Only physical injuries, not emotional harm
Correct answer: The full extent of plaintiff's injuries, even if the plaintiff had unusual vulnerability
The eggshell skull rule requires a tortfeasor to take the plaintiff as they find them — the defendant is fully liable for all consequences of their negligence, even if the plaintiff's vulnerability caused injuries far beyond what was foreseeable.
Question 2: Defamation per se refers to false statements that are actionable without proof of actual damages because they fall into which category?
- Statements made to only one person
- Statements involving criminal conduct, loathsome diseases, professional misconduct, or sexual immorality (Correct answer)
- Statements made in writing
- Statements made by public officials
Correct answer: Statements involving criminal conduct, loathsome diseases, professional misconduct, or sexual immorality
Defamation per se applies to certain categories of statements so harmful on their face — imputing crime, loathsome disease, sexual immorality, or professional incompetence — that damages are presumed.
Question 3: Which tort protects against intentional intrusion upon a person's solitude or private affairs?
- Trespass to chattels
- Intrusion upon seclusion (Correct answer)
- Appropriation of likeness
- False light invasion of privacy
Correct answer: Intrusion upon seclusion
Intrusion upon seclusion is a privacy tort that imposes liability for intentionally intruding upon the plaintiff's solitude or private affairs in a manner that would be highly offensive to a reasonable person.
Question 4: Under the 'danger invites rescue' doctrine established in Wagner v. International Railway, a tortfeasor is liable for injuries to:
- Only the primary victim of negligence
- Rescuers who are injured attempting to help the primary victim (Correct answer)
- Bystanders who witness the dangerous situation
- Emergency responders only
Correct answer: Rescuers who are injured attempting to help the primary victim
The 'danger invites rescue' doctrine holds that a tortfeasor whose negligence endangers a victim is also liable to rescuers injured in foreseeable rescue attempts.
Question 5: Strict liability in tort applies most commonly to which types of activities?
- Ordinary business operations
- Abnormally dangerous activities and wild animal ownership (Correct answer)
- All activities causing physical harm
- Activities regulated by federal statute
Correct answer: Abnormally dangerous activities and wild animal ownership
Strict liability is imposed on those who engage in abnormally dangerous activities (such as blasting or storing explosives) and those who keep wild animals, regardless of the care exercised.
Question 6: In a negligence case, 'proximate cause' (legal cause) is generally satisfied if the plaintiff's injury was:
- Directly caused by defendant's act with no intervening forces
- A foreseeable consequence of the defendant's negligent conduct (Correct answer)
- Caused solely by the defendant's conduct
- Proven by clear and convincing evidence
Correct answer: A foreseeable consequence of the defendant's negligent conduct
Proximate cause limits liability to injuries that are a foreseeable result of the defendant's negligent conduct; unforeseeable consequences break the chain of legal causation.
JD Torts 2
The 'eggshell skull' (thin skull) rule in tort law holds that a defendant is liable for: