Torts Occurring in the Workplace

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1. What torts have occurred or may occur in your workplace?
Types Of Employment Torts
There are a number of employment torts frequently used as causes of action by aggrieved employees. Some of the more commonplace are assault battery, false imprisonment, invasion of privacy, defamation negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Assault. Assault is an attempt or threat to inflict bodily injury upon another pension accompanied by the apparent ability to give effect tot he attempt if it is not prevented. Even a threat intended as a joke may Be considered an assault if the victim is placed in reasonable fear of the threat being carried out For example, if a supervisor pulls back a fist and says to an employee, going to knock some sense into you," the supervisor has committed an assault if the employee perceives the gesture as a threat accompanied by an ability to carry it out and, because of those factors, experiences reasonable fear of harm. In most instances of sexual harassment--a violation of federal law--gestures and statements made by the offender may also be construed as assault
No actual touching or physical injury is needed to establish an allegation of assault. Legally, an assault may be both a tort and a criminal offense.
Battery. This tortuous act is defined as the touching of another person, willfully or in anger, against his or her wishes. Battery also extends to anything so closely attached that it is customarily regarded as part of the person; e.g., the person s clothing, the person's automobile, the person's desk. Offensive; but harmless touching may entitle the person touched to nominal damages. A manager who slams an item down on an employee's desk or who purposely knocks an item off that desk may be committing battery. As in assault, battery has 'both criminal and tort aspects.
False imprisonment. False imprisonment occurs when a person is intentionally and unjustifiably detained. Mere obstruction, stopping a person or locking a person out of his or her office is not sufficient to constitute false imprisonment. The restraint must be so total in the mind of the victim it amounts to an imprisonment. However, the duration of such restraint may be of any appreciable period of time.
The use of physical force is not required to establish a cause of action. If the victim reasonably believes he or she has been restrained against his or her will, a cause of action has occurred. No actual damages have to be proved in a false imprisonment case.
Invasion of Privacy. Although the United States Constitution does not specifically guarantee the right to privacy--contrary to what most people believe--tort law protects an individual's private concerns against wrongful intrusion by other individuals or by governments. Unwarranted exploitation of personal information or publicity that causes mental suffering or humiliation is actionable under tort law.
Negligence. Negligence is failure to exercise the degree of care a person of ordinary prudence would exercise under the same or similar circumstances. In other words, negligence is conduct that does not provide for the proper protection of others against reasonable risk of harm.
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