| Civil Cases (chapter 18) The Mischievous Child 18.1: Dailey, a 5-year-old child, was playing in the backyard when an elderly woman, Garrett, went outside to sit down. The child pulled the lawn chair away just before Garrett sat down, and Garrett fell to the ground and fractured her hip. Although Dailey did not want to hurt Garrett and did not believe she would be hurt, the child was aware that if he pulled the chair away as Garrett was sitting down she would almost certainly land on the ground. a. Did Dailey act intentionally? Is a five-year-old too young to act intentionally or to understand the significance of his actions? b. Did Dailey cause Garrett's fall? Explain your answer? c. Can Dailey be sued by Garrett and forced to pay her injuries? Can Dailey's parents be sued? d. Should it matter that Dailey honestly did not mean to hurt the woman? e. Would the legal outcome be different if the child had been running in the yard and tripped over the chair just as Garrett was sitting down, leading to the same injury to her? Explain your answer. Fisher v. Carrousel Motor Hotel, Inc. 18.2: In 1967, an African American mathematician who worked for a government agency was attending a telemetry conference at the Carrousel Motor Hotel in Texas. While in line at the cafeteria waiting to pay for his lunch, an employee of the hotel snatched the tray out of Fishers hand and shouted that a "Negro could not be served at the club." Although Fisher was not physically harmed, he was shocked and embarrassed in front of his colleagues. a. Did the employee cause a physical contact with Fisher? If so, was it offensive contact? Would you feel differently if the employee had snatched the tray and said "Let me carry that for you sir," and proceeded to bring the tray to Fisher's table? b. If Fisher was not physically injured in any way, should the law allow him to collect damages? Explain your answer. c. Why might a person bother to go to court to win damages in a case like this? d. In what ways does the definition of battery help protect people's dignity from being violated? The Taunted Worker 18.4: Harris worked for General Motors under the direct supervision of Jones. Harris suffered from a severe speech impediment that caused him to stutter. He was very sensitive about his speech impediment. Over the course of five months, Jones approached Harris on thirty occasions to make fun of him, mockingly shaking his head up and down and stuttering as he insulted Harris. Harris complained to his committeeman (an employee representative who dealt with grievances) to no avail, which only promoted Jones to further harass Harris for complaining to the "committeeman" as Jones mockingly put it. Harris became extremely nervous after months of abuse and his speech impediment got worse. a. Did Jones "intend" to inflict emotional distress on Harris? Was his behavior "extreme and outrageous"? b. Did Harris suffer "severe" emotional distress? c. How should Harris' lawsuit for intentional infliction of emotional distress be decided? d. Why might Harris want to sue General Motors as well as Jones? Assume that Jones is liable. What are arguments for and against making the company (General Motors) financially responsibility for paying damages? |