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liability. This is especially true when firing or laying off employees. Such actions must be taken with care and civility. Similarly, bill collectors and foreclosure agencies must be careful not to harass, intimidate, or threaten people. Interference with Property Rights Intentional torts can also be committed against property. Trespass to land occurs when someone enters onto, above, or below the surface of land that is visibly enclosed without the owner’s permission. The trespass can be momentary or fleeting. Soot, smoke, noise, odor, or even a flying arrow or bullet can all become the basis for trespass. These can also be the basis for nuisance claims. Nuisance is a condition or situation that interferes with the use or enjoyment of property. Nuisance claims can be public (applying to community areas such as parks or the environment) or private (applying to privately owned property such as houses). Trespass can be innocent or willful. An innocent trespass occurs when someone enters another’s property by mistake or when they believe they have permission but do not. Willful trespass occurs when someone intentionally enters another’s property knowing they do not have permission to be there. There are times when trespass is justified. Someone may have a license to trespass, such as a meter reader or utility repair technician. There may also be times when it may be necessary to trespass—for example, to rescue someone during an emergency. Some states do not require the land to be visibly enclosed to be protected from trespass. Therefore, residential homes in urban and suburban areas do not always need a fence around the property to be protected from trespass. 141 | Torts Trespass to personal property is the unlawful taking or harming of another’s personal property without the owner’s permission. The tort of conversion is the wrongful possession or disposition of property as if it were one’s own with the intent to do so permanently. It is the civil equivalent to the crime of theft. An employer who refuses to pay an employee for work commits conversion. Similarly, conversion occurs when a business returns personal property to the wrong customer. Interference with Economic Relations Torts can also take place against goods or products instead of people. Disparagement is a false and injurious statement that discredits or detracts from the reputation of another’s property, product, or business. To recover, the injured party must prove that the statement caused a third party to take some action resulting in economic loss to the plaintiff. In other words, the victim of the statement must prove that it lost customers or goodwill as a result of the false statement made about its business or products. These types of false statements are considered unfair competition and, therefore, are unlawful. Similarly, unfair competition can also be in the form of interfering with a competitor’s contracts. Tortious interference with contractual relations prohibits the intentional interference with an existing valid and enforceable contract by intentionally inducing one of the parties to break the contract, causing damage to the relationship between the contracting parties. This occurs when a business tries to break up a competitor’s contract with vendors, suppliers, or customers in an effort to harm them. There are four elements to prove intentional interference with contractual relations: Torts | 142 1. A contract exists between the plaintiff and a third party; 2. Defendant knew of the contract; 3. Defendant improperly induced the third party to breach the contract or made performance of the contract impossible; and 4. Plaintiff was injured. Similarly, tortious interference with prospective advantage is an intentional, damaging intrusion on another’s potential business relationship, such as the opportunity to obtain customers or employment. Fair competition does not give rise to this tort. However, if a business engages in fraud, intimidation, or threats to drive away potential customers from its competitors, then it is liable. Tortious interference with prospective advantage applies to conduct before a contract exists. Misappropriation occurs when a person or business uses someone else’s property dishonestly for one’s own use. Misappropriation is a very broad tort because it covers any likeness or identifying characteristic, as well as property such as patents, copyrights, and trademarks. It also applies to a business’s name and goodwill. Wrongful Communications Another intentional tort is defamation, which is the act of harming the reputation of another by making a false statement to a third party. Spoken defamation is considered slander, while written defamation is libel. To be liable for defamation, the words must be made to a third party, which may include emails, text messages, and social media. The First Amendment provides strong protection for news organizations, and courts have held that public figures must 143 | Torts show actual malice before they can win a defamation lawsuit. This means celebrities and famous individuals must prove the media knew that it was publishing false information, or that it published the information with reckless disregard for the truth. Truth is a complete defense to defamation. The invasion of the right of privacy is essentially the violation of a person’s right to be left alone and to restrict public access to personal information, such as tax returns and medical records. There are four forms of this tort: Form of Invasion of Privacy Description 1. Appropriating a person’s name or likeness Using someone’s name, photograph, or other identifying characteristic for commercial purposes without permission 2. Invasion of physical solitude Window peeping, eavesdropping, using drones to video private areas, going through garage to find confidential information, etc. 3. Public disclosure of private facts Disclosure of a private citizen’s finances, medical conditions, or personal relationships through a public medium such as social media 4. False light Using publicity to place a person in false light in the public eye, such as objectionable hobbies or attributing beliefs and opinions to the person that he or she does not hold Fraud is the intentional misstatement of a material fact that is relied upon by a third party to the detriment of the targeted party. It requires the tortfeasor to misrepresent facts (not opinions) with knowledge that they are false or with reckless disregard for the truth. An “innocent” misrepresentation is not enough—the defendant must know he or she is lying. Fraud can arise in any number of business situations, such as lying on a résumé to gain employment, lying on a credit application to obtain credit, or in product marketing. Here, there is a fine line between puffery, or seller’s talk, and an actual lie. If an Torts | 144 advertisement claims that a particular car gets a certain gas mileage or meets emissions standards, then fraud occurs if those statements are untrue. Conversely, an advertisement that promises “unparalleled luxury” is only puffery since it is opinion. 9.3 Negligence Everyone has the duty to act reasonably and to exercise a reasonable amount of care in their dealings and interactions with others. Breach of that duty, which causes injury, is negligence. Negligence is distinguished from intentional torts because there is a lack of intent to cause harm. The definition of negligence is purposefully broad. Negligence is the failure to exercise the standard of care that a reasonably prudent person would have exercised in a similar situation. This legal standard is to protect people against unreasonable risk of harm. To succeed on a negligence claim, a plaintiff must prove five elements: 1. The defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff; 2. The defendant breached that duty; 3. The defendant’s conduct was the actual cause of the plaintiff’s injuries; 4. The defendant’s conduct was the proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injuries; and 5. The plaintiff was damaged. 145