intentional tort negligence when you are injured by another person, harmful behavior generally falls under a broad legal classification called damages. Damage is an unlawful act that injures or interferes with someone else's person or property. Damages can be either intentional (performed intentionally) or negligent (due to lack of reasonable care). To clarify these differences, let's look at two scenarios.
- You are sitting at a table arguing with your neighbor. Things escalate and the neighbor throws a glass and hits you on the shoulder. Your neighbor has done harm. Most likely intentional damage to the battery.
- During an argument, your neighbor becomes so angry that he smashes a glass to the floor. The impact causes glass fragments to fly through the air. A stray lodger in your eyes. This is also harm, although the act was not intentional. The act was negligent.
How your claim proceeds and the damages available to you depend on the type of damage alleged in your claim. In order to better understand the differences, let's compare intentional and negligent damage.
The intentional Tort of Negligence
Personal injury claims are often based on a negligence claim. negligence is behavior that falls below a reasonable level of care for the safety of those around you. The main difference between intentional damage and a negligent claim is the mental state of the actor. The negligent person did not intend to cause harm, but he is still legally liable because his careless actions injured someone.
Four things together determine negligence . A negligence lawsuit will succeed only if the plaintiff proves all four of the following elements:
- Duty of care: the duty of care requires the use of regular care to prevent injury to others. It is determined on a case-by-case basis.
- Breach: the duty of care is breached when the defendant fails to exercise reasonable care. It can be an act or omission that does not correspond to the standard of care practiced by an ordinary wise person.
- The defendant caused the plaintiff's loss: the breach must be the legal cause of the damage caused to the plaintiff, that is, the actual cause and the direct cause. The actual cause exists when the plaintiff has not suffered an injury due to the breach. The immediate cause exists when the type and extent of the injuries sustained are reasonably related to the breach.
- The plaintiff suffered damages: the plaintiff must suffer damages that can be remedied with monetary compensation. Just a breach of duty is not enough. Damages cannot be contingent or speculative.
intentional Torts Negligence
Intentional damage, on the other hand, occurs when a person intentionally acts in a certain way that results in injury to another person. There are many intentional tort recognized by most states, including battery, assault, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, trespassing, trespassing on movables and conversion.
- Assault: An attempted battery or threatening injury when no battery takes place.
- Battery: Harmful or offensive contact with another person. It applies even when no actual injury occurs.
- Conversion: When someone takes your property and "converts" it to their own. In the criminal world, it’s known as theft.
- Trespass: This comes in two forms – trespass to land and trespass to chattel, or personal property. In either case, trespass means using the property without permission of the owner.
- False Imprisonment: The unlawful restraint of a person against her will by someone without legal authority or justification.
Intentional tort vs negligence
The fundamental difference in tort law between intentional tort and negligence is that intentional tort occurs when someone acts intentionally, while negligence occurs when someone is not careful enough to meet the necessary standard of care. In intentional damage, the representative may not plan for all the damage to occur, but there is an intent of their actions that lead to losses for the affected parties. For example, in case of assault and battery, they intend to beat you.
Most car accidents are considered negligent. Usually, another driver does not hit you on purpose. Rather, they make a driving mistake that leads to an accident, which is negligence . On the other hand, if a person uses a car to hit you or your car intentionally, you have committed intentional tort.
Similarly, if someone throws a ball at you and it hits you in the nose, this is an intentional example of negligence . It's considered a battery because they threw the ball at you knowing it would probably hit you in the face. If they threw the ball against the wall and it bounced and then hit you in the face, this is an example of negligence .
Intentional Acts vs. Intentional Consequences
In a claim for intentional damage, the jury can assume that the person intended the natural consequences of his actions. That is, if someone hits you, it is not a defense for them to claim that they don't want you to get hurt.
If a person stole your car, it is not a defense for them to assert that they did not want you to be without a car when they stole your car. The question is whether a person intends to do a certain action knowing that the result is likely to happen. This is where Personal Injury Law and criminal law come into play.