those injuries. Generally speaking, tort law defines what constitutes a.
legal injury, and establishes the circumstances under which one person may.
be held liable for another's injury. Injured party brings civil lawsuit to.
seek compensation for a wrong done to the party or the party's property.
For instance, when Steve Steel, slaps the phone from Prudence's hand.
without ever touching her, then pulling out a lifelike squirt gun and.
threatens to blow her head off. Prudence may sue Steve for losses.
occasioned by the threat of assault with a deadly weapon (for example,.
costs of medical treatment or lost income during time off work). One of the.
main topics of the substance of tort law is determining the "standard of.
care" - a legal phrase that means distinguishing between whether a person.
suffers the loss from his own injury, or whether it the loss gets.
transferred to someone else.
Negligence .
Negligence is the failure to do something a reasonable, prudent person in.
the same circumstances would do, or, conversely, committing an act a.
reasonable, prudent person would not do. (Cheeseman) It's pretty clear,.
then, that the students were negligent - they engaged in a threatening act.
that a reasonable, prudent person would not (pointing what appeared to be a.
weapon at a person and threatening their life). In fact, the act of.
storming the building, even without weapons, fits the definition of.
negligence, as their behavior would be taken as threatening by most people.
in Prudence's situation. More importantly, the facts above make clear that.
Prudence was harmed by the negligence - thus, you have proximate cause, a.
condition necessary for negligence. In fact, given the facts, there is a.
good argument that this was negligent infliction of emotional harm.
Negligent infliction of emotional harm requires that the students' actions.
were "outrageous", that Prudence suffered emotional distress, and that her.
