Also known as: private wrongs · civil wrong · tort
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A legal injury or violation of rights suffered by a private individual rather than the public at large. The injured party initiates and controls the civil proceeding to obtain redress, typically in the form of damages.
Paige Porter tells Phuong Pham she will file a false police report accusing Pham of theft unless Pham signs a consulting agreement. Pham signs under the pressure. When Pham later seeks to avoid the agreement, the court treats the threat as an improper means because it constituted a tort, allowing rescission on grounds of duress.
Pierce Patterson posts defamatory statements online about Pamela Phillips, knowing she lives and works in the forum state. The statements cause Phillips reputational harm there. Phillips sues Patterson in the forum state for the private wrong, and the court exercises personal jurisdiction because the intentional tort was expressly aimed at the forum and produced foreseeable harm there.
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Prosperity Investments takes a security interest in equipment owned by Paragon Construction. The equipment consists of movable machinery located at the job site. When Paragon defaults, the court classifies the equipment as goods because the items were movable when the security interest attached, allowing the secured party to enforce its interest through repossession rather than a private-wrong tort claim.
Priscilla Parks suffers a broken arm after Pedro Pacheco intentionally shoves her during an argument. Parks sues Pacheco for battery. The court awards Parks a sum of money to compensate for her medical expenses and pain, characterizing the award as damages arising from the tort committed against her.
Pulse Media serves as trustee of a family trust that owns rental property. The trust's negligent failure to repair a staircase causes a tenant to fall and suffer injury. The tenant sues Pulse Media in its fiduciary capacity for the tort committed during trust administration, and the court permits the claim to proceed against the trustee in that capacity.
Platinum Partners' CEO becomes engaged to Paige Porter. Porter quits her job and incurs wedding expenses in reliance on the engagement. When the CEO ends the engagement, Porter sues for breach of promise to marry. The court allows recovery of her actual expenditures and emotional distress but denies recovery for lost future financial position.
A private wrong injures an individual and is pursued by that person through civil litigation. A public wrong injures the state or community and is addressed in proceedings brought by the state itself.
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Yes. Conduct that breaches a contract may also amount to a tort when it violates an independent duty, allowing the injured party to pursue tort remedies such as punitive damages in addition to contract damages.
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Recognition of the tort aspect permits recovery of punitive damages when the defendant acted maliciously, in addition to reliance losses and harms such as mental anguish or reputational injury.
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…in narrowly defined situations and except when the rights are contingent upon live birth. For example, the traditional rule of tort law denied recovery for prenatal injuries even though the child was born alive.[^maj-63] That rule has been changed in almost every jurisdiction. In most States, recovery is said to be…