Ethics Questions: Torts and Product Liability - Essay Example

This is because issues that are more complex exist in situations where products and services increase and reduce risks. The state uses criminal law to protect the society through enforcing criminal punishment, unlike the law of tort, which seeks to protect the society through victim compensation with regards to punitive damages. Intentional tort and defenses Intentional torts are said to be committed as a result of deliberate cause of harm through the defendant’s actions towards the plaintiff or his or her property.

The defendant in this case knows that his or her actions will certainly cause harm to the plaintiff (Emanuel and Emanuel, 2008, P.93). Intentional torts involving people include battery, assault, malicious prosecution, and defamation, while those of property include nuisance and land trespass. Defenses to intentional tort include protection as a way of self-defense, defense to property and to others during the event. The defendant is allowed to exercises these defenses at a reasonable degree and forcefully under specific circumstances.

Consent defense is a complete defense as long as the consent had not been falsely gained in case of intentional tort as long as it is an effective consent. Defense because of necessity is allowable when one’s property is invaded during an emergency. Defense as a necessity may be for the protection of private interest or the public. The trespass of land has the defense of the right to arrest, thus the right to trespass the arrestee’s land with regards to issued arrest warrant. Defense of intentional tort may also be as a result of responsible individuals such as parents and teachers disciplining children using reasonable force.

Tort of Defamation According to Eric (2009, p.612), the tort of defamation classifies injuries sustained as a result of wrongful acts that damage ones reputation into two aspects of consequences and grief caused by the defamatory statements to the plaintiff. The consequences of the attitudes towards the plaintiff are adopted by other people due to the diminution of the esteem in which persons hold the plaintiff as a result of the defamatory statements. The tort of Invasion of Privacy can be clearly shown by the case of Buddha V.

Lakeville Motor Express, Inc., where the company is claimed to have violated its employees’ right to privacy by transmitting their names and social security numbers. The transmission was claimed to lead to identity theft with regards to the tort. However, in the case of Buddha V. Lakeville Motor Express Inc., the court ruled that the distribution of the names and social security numbers did not constitute publication and therefore, no invasion of privacy of the employees. The tort of negligence is a result of one’s failure to exercise a reasonable amount of care or failure to act in a manner that constitutes ordinary care.

Negligence is usually claimed in lawsuits that concern personal injury. Moreover, negligence, as a lawsuit concerning personal injury, arises from the aspect of individuals being negligent in their actions. Product Liability This is the legal liability that sellers and manufacturers have for defective products that cause injury to the users. Theories of recovery of product liability include breach of warranty, negligence, and strict liability. Breach of warranty involves lawsuit actions in situations where