Last Updated on December 10, 2022 by Anda Malescu
Here, we lay out various examples of business torts in the United States. In the U.S. torts law is a wide area of law that covers a large range of misconduct, including personal injuries, negligence and malpractice. Torts law also shares some overlap with other law areas such as business law and contracts law. Business torts usually involve “injury” to another’s business practice, while most torts involve injury to another persons’ body or damage to their property. Tort damages can involve loss of business opportunities, loss of clients, loss of business relations, mental and emotional anguish and others. Business torts differ from state to state but here, we discuss business torts generally and lay out some examples of business torts.
The four elements to be determined for every successful negligence case are duty, breach of duty, causation and damages. For a negligence claim to be well-founded, there must have been a breach of duty made by defendant, which resulted in damages. There are three main types of torts: intentional torts, negligence, and strict liability torts.
Here are some business torts examples
As previously mentioned, most business torts involve losses that will occur in the future, rather than losses that happened in the past. And because of this many business tort claims involve a complex and rather difficult determination of plaintiff’s future losses.
Some examples of business torts are: fraud, negligent misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, civil theft and conversion, conspiracy, defamation, and tortious interference with a contract or business relationship.
Business fraud involves one party knowingly making false statements or intentionally omitting information when doing business with another party. For fraud to occur, the injured party must have relied on the false statement or omission to make a decision in the transaction.
Negligent misrepresentation occurs when unintentional false statements or claims are made. This is different from fraud, because in the case of negligent misrepresentation the plaintiff does not need to prove that defendant knew the statement was false or misleading. Proving intent is not required here. Misrepresentation can arise from ignorance or negligence.
A fiduciary duty is a duty of care and loyalty owed by one party (the fiduciary) to another (the beneficiary). The duty obliges the fiduciary to act in the beneficiary’s best interests. When a fiduciary does not act in the beneficiary’s best interests and the beneficiary suffers monetary losses as a result, he or she may be entitled to recover damages. Such cases are commonly met in the framework of contracts, trusts and estates, securities and investments, and shareholder and partnership agreements.
Civil conspiracy occurs when two or more parties agree to act together with the purpose of committing an unlawful act that economically harms another party. This can often be seen together with another type of tort – fraud. Under the law of most states, in a civil conspiracy each conspirator is liable for the torts of other co-conspirators.
Business reputation can be harmed through defamatory statements made by other individuals or business. Defamation can arise out of spoken statements and published statements. A defamation claim is actionable if the statements made are false. Tortious interference occurs when one party unlawfully interferes with another party’s contract or business relationship. Tortious interference can occur in a wide variety of contracts or business relationships, such as employment for example. Tortious interference describes a situation where defendant knew about plaintiff’s valid contract or business relationship and intended to disrupt it causing harm to plaintiff.
Contact us, your business attorney in Florida, to discuss your business tort circumstance or schedule a consultation.
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