Question

In order for a class action to be certified by the court it must satisfy the court that it posses five key elements or criteria. Identify and briefly discuss each of these elements.

What is the purpose of workers' compensation legislation and how does this legislation modify tort law?

Explain how the same set of facts can give rise to liability in tort and in contract.

Does negligence require perfect conduct by the defendant to excuse liability? Explain.

Describe the new tort of intrusion upon seclusion, including how the tort came into existence, its purpose, what must be proven for an action based on this tort to succeed, and the remedy.

Subject: Business Law

Answer 1

A class action, also known as a class action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member of that group.

Class-action lawsuits are an important and valuable part of the legal system when they permit the fair and efficient resolution of legitimate claims of numerous parties by allowing the claims to be aggregated into a single action against a defendant that has allegedly caused harm.

A class action is the best option for suing one or a few defendants when there are too many potential plaintiffs to include in a standard personal injury lawsuit, and the prospect of individual cases is impractical. One or a few “representatives” file the suit and conduct the litigation, while the other potential class members are contacted/notified so that they have the chance to "opt out" of the class action (i.e. not participate in the results), or be instructed on how to receive their share of any damages award or settlement.

If a defendant settles the class action or loses at trial, are class members who have not opted out are given a percentage of the amount or, if it is too difficult to identify and contact all of the potential class members, a fund is made available to provide damages to anyone who can demonstrate they were harmed by the defendant’s actions (for example, prove they purchased a product that has been recalled as defective).

More creative solutions can also come out of a class action settlement, especially in non-injury cases. For example, several department stores agreed to give away free makeup for a limited time to settle a class action that alleged the stores secretly worked together to keep cosmetic prices artificially high.

Workers' compensation laws protect people who become injured or disabled while working at their jobs. The laws provide the injured workers with fixed monetary awards, in an attempt to eliminate the need for litigation. These laws also provide benefits for dependents of those workers who are killed because of work-related accidents or illnesses. Some laws also protect employers and fellow workers by limiting the amount an injured employee can recover from an employer and by eliminating the liability of co-workers in most accidents. State statutes establish this framework for most employment. Federal statutes are limited to federal employees or those workers employed in some significant aspect of interstate commerce.

The exclusive remedy provision states that workers compensation is the sole remedy available to injured workers, thus preventing employees from also making tort liability claims against their employers.

A contract means a promise or set of promises that the law can or will enforce if any eventuality arises while tort means a collection of legal remedies that entitle an affected party to recover from losses, injuries, or damages.

In contract law, the duty that is breached is a duty established by the parties in their agreement. In conclusion, breach of contract is not a tort. Both tort law and contract law are branches of civil law that cover many different types of injuries and violations.

Tort Liability is a legal duty to compensate someone for damages caused. It is the result of a court's sentence where the wrongdoer has to pay for the injury committed against the victim.

Contract liability refers to liability that one party of a contract shoulders on behalf of another party. It is implemented through an indemnity agreement or hold harmless agreement in a contract.

To successfully defend against a negligence suit, the defendant will try to negate one of the elements of the plaintiff's cause of action. In other words, the defendant introduces evidence that he or she did not owe a duty to the plaintiff; exercised reasonable care; did not cause the plaintiff's damages; and so forth.

The intrusion upon seclusion tort is described as follows: One who intentionally intrudes, physically or otherwise, upon the seclusion of another or his private affairs or concerns, is subject to liability to the other for invasion of his privacy, if the invasion would be highly offensive to a reasonable person.

"One who intentionally intrudes, physically or otherwise, upon the seclusion of another or his private affairs or concerns, is subject to liability to the other for invasion of his privacy, if the invasion would be highly offensive to a reasonable person."

The elements of an intrusion on seclusion claim in tort law are: intentionally. intruding. on the solitude or seclusion of another person, or on their private affairs.