17-b-2 Negligent Torts

• Library: A Jailhouse Lawyer's Manual (2020 Edition)

17-B-2. Negligent Torts

The biggest difference between intentional torts and negligent torts is the mental state of the person causing the injury. Unlike an intentional tortfeasor, a negligent tortfeasor does not intend to cause damage or injury. Instead, a negligent tortfeasor creates an unreasonably unsafe situation by doing something a reasonable person would not do, or by failing to take some precaution he should have taken. When this unreasonable behavior causes injury or destruction of property, we call it a negligent tort.

To prove a negligent tort, you must first show that the tortfeasor had a responsibility to keep you from being injured, called a "duty of care." Second, you must show that the tortfeasor violated (or breached) this duty of care by acting negligently, or failing to do what a reasonable person would have done under the circumstances.⁷ Third, you must show that your injury was foreseeable, meaning that a reasonable person would have known that the tortfeasor's behavior could cause the type of injury that you suffered.

(a) Duty and Breach

To prove a negligent tort, you need to demonstrate that the tortfeasor owed you a duty of care. Whether or not someone owes you a duty of care depends on the particular situation and your relationship to that person. For example, a supervisor in a job owes you a duty of care to maintain a safe workplace, and you can therefore sue him if he fails to do so. A coworker, however, does not owe you that duty, and you could not sue him, even if he gave you a piece of defective equipment and you got injured using it. ⁸ To decide whether or not the person responsible for your injuries owed you a duty of care, you can...