You have defined a tort when you consider intentional wrongs that harm a person. For Florida business owners, torts against their property are treated similarly as against the person. Civil torts allow the injured party to seek damages for their injuries.
Business torts include assault, battery, false imprisonment, vandalism, destruction of property, emotional distress and defamation. Two critical elements of intentional business torts include intent plus the action that leads to harm. In some cases, like pranks, even though harm wasn’t intended, it could be proven that a reasonable person should have known that an injury or damage could occur.
Examining business torts
Let’s consider a doctor who frequently writes prescriptions for a patient complaining of back pain. Rather than running further tests or examinations, the doctor keeps prescribing highly addictive pain pills. The patient becomes chronically addicted and files a malpractice claim against the doctor. The doctor could be convicted of an intentional tort against his patient.
Another example is an accountant who reports untruthful information to the IRS on behalf of their client and pockets money belonging to their clients. Many famous people have lost their businesses and life savings due to these business torts.
Recognizing business torts in the real world
Most people believe that businesses operate with integrity and honesty. Intentional torts are only sometimes fraudulent; some can be misguided or a result of poor judgment. A bookkeeper could act outside of their authority when handling company funds. A baseball can fly through storefront glass. The baseball example sounds like an accident, but if the ball playing was done too close to the shop, and the players had a bad history with the business owner, then it could be argued that the tort was intentional.
