BLW 1001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Damages, Punitive Damages, Tort

• School: St. John's University
• Department: BLW - BUSINESS LAW
• Course: BLW 1001
• Professor: Boland- De Vito

Document Summary

Torts are private (civil) wrongs against persons or property. A person who is injured can file a lawsuit to obtain actual (compensatory) damages and sometimes punitive damages. Compensatory damages cover: actual financial loss like medical treatment costs and loss of pay and intangible harms like emotional distress and injury of reputation. Punitive damages: are in excess of the plaintiff"s actual losses and are designed to punish the defendant and to deter repeating behavior that is offensive. Prosecutor must establish defendant"s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Plaintiff must establish defendant"s liability by a preponderance of the evidence. Defendant may have to pay the plaintiff compensatory and punitive damages. Courts are reluctant to grant recovery for pure mental injuries but modern medicine makes this more provable. Defendants conduct must have been outrageous and substantially certain to produce emotional distress in a person of ordinary sensibilities. Libel (written defamation) and slander (oral defamation) protect against harm to a reputation.