This week, we’ll be examining how our legal system protects persons who are injured by the purposeful act of another. These types of injuries are called intentional torts.  The legal claims of assault, battery, false imprisonment, invasion of privacy and defamation are examples of intentional torts.

For this discussion, choose one of the scenarios listed below and determine the intentional tort that you think applies. Make sure to explain your answer, including the elements of the claim, why you think those elements are or are not present, and what other information you would need to make this determination.

• A group of people protesting a company’s employment practices in the lobby of a building is surrounded by private security guards hired by the company.
• A teenager sends a joking message to his best friend telling him that there is a bomb in his basement.
• You accidentally leave your personal journal at the local coffee shop. Another customer finds it and shares your innermost secrets on his blog, but never identifies you as being the writer of the journal.
• At a family reunion at your parents’ home, you see Dave, a second cousin, take a very expensive bottle of wine from the wine cellar, place it in a duffle bag, and hurry out the backdoor. You quickly go to your father and tell him that Dave stole the bottle, and your father calls the police. In reality, your mother told Dave he could pick any bottle of wine from the cellar as a belated birthday present.