Torts: Strict Liability and Nuisance — Test Answers

Damien decided to surprise Nell for her birthday. He blindfolded her and put her into a room to wait. Fifteen minutes later, he put her in his car and drove her to an unknown location. He had her wait in the car for another fifteen minutes. He then escorted her from the car into a house, where he took off her blindfold and everyone yelled, "Surprise!" Damien did not falsely imprison Nell.

A made an offer to C to sell his car to him for $5,000 anytime before the end of June, but it wasn't in writing. Is the offer valid?

Your client is a corporation, Pros, who is working with another corporation, Cons, to build an office building downtown. Pros believes that Cons had Pros sign a separate agreement that was not the one they bargained for. Although it had the same heading, the one Pros signed was longer and had smaller print. Which legal issue is raised above?

A and B have agreed that A will befriend C in order to make C popular in exchange for B's payment of $500 to A. Is this a valid contract?

You begin having a garage sale twice a summer and continue doing so for several years, and you have a sort of "clientele"; you know the types of items that they like to purchase and set aside specific things for them. According to the UCC, you are a merchant.

Lexie decided to try out her new "Groovy Curls" curling iron. She couldn't find any instructions in or on the box, but decided to plug it in as she took a shower. Once her hair was dry and she was ready to curl it, she picked up the iron and it set her hair on fire. She quickly put out the flames with her damp towel. Groovy Curls is liable to Lexie for negligence.

Two merchants agree to a sale of 100 pounds of flour to make donuts. The buyer's standard-form agreement does not state a time for delivery, and the seller's standard-form agreement states a timeframe of thirty days for delivery. The two businesses continue along, business as usual, despite the disagreement in their forms, but the contract has been accepted. The time for delivery of the flour will be upheld according to the UCC's gap fillers.

Edith packed her brown bags too full with groceries at the store. As she was walking home, one of the cantaloupes fell out of one of the bags and rolled down the street. Max the messenger hit the cantaloupe with his bike and fell over, spilling mail everywhere. One car hit another as letters plastered the windshield and the driver could not see. The cantaloupe's journey ended when a baby stroller hit it and split the melon in half. Edith is liable for negligence.

Your client is a corporation, Pros, who is working with another corporation, Cons, to build an office building downtown. Cons is a megacorporation and practically has a monopoly on construction materials and so has started to withhold timely delivery of materials in order to make new demands on Pros, like adding additional features that will cost Pros more in the end, and says things like, "take it or leave the entire project." Identify the defense of duress.

Clarice's neighbor Alec built an awesome tree house for his son Rodin. Rodin spends each afternoon in his tree house playing loud video games. The sounds of the guns in these games are so real that Clarice finds it truly annoying. The loud video game noises represent a private nuisance.

Barb heard a shout of help from outside, where she saw her son Ron pushed up against the garage by Daisy (Ron's old girlfriend) in her pickup truck. Barb yelled for Daisy to stop and she backed away, but then revved up the engine to strike again. She was within inches of Ron when she slammed on her brakes, pushed the gearshift into reverse, and drove away. Daisy is liable to Barb for intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Troy was looking for a real bargain house. He noticed a lot of homes for sale in a small rural town called Mayville. Troy noticed a large factory not too far away from a house he was looking to buy, but didn't think too much of it. Once he moved in, the smoke and noise from the sausage factory woke him up at all hours, and his asthma started up again. Troy will likely be successful in bringing an injunction against the factory.

A Web site for mountain bikes offers access to the owner's Purchase and Return Policy on every page of the site. The policy does not allow returns at all. If the buyer/offeree tries to return the bike immediately upon receipt, will she still receive a complete refund?

Markus was an engineer by day and a scientist by night. He built an internal combustion laboratory within his garage and used fuel from canisters he kept throughout the garage to keep his motor running for his experiments. One night something went wrong with his experiment, and sparks began to fly. The sparks set the fuel canisters on fire. Soon flames engulfed his garage and his neighbor's. Markus is liable to his neighbor under strict liability.

Your client is a corporation, Pros, who is working with another corporation, Cons, to build an office building downtown. Cons has started to force Pros to use their subcontractors, none of whom speak English and all of whom appear to be under the age of fifteen. Cons has required Pros to include the hire of their subcontractors, and they plan to enforce this contract in court. Which legal issue is raised above?

Your client is a corporation, Pros, who is working with another corporation, Cons, to build an office building downtown. The contract says the building materials will cost $50,000, but they actually only cost $45,000, and Cons has intentionally misled Pros to believe they are worth $50,000. Which legal issue is raised above?

You sell things on occasion on eBay, and because of this, your eBay profile lists that you are a seller of goods and has customer satisfaction reviews that appear on your profile page. However, most of the time, you do not have any goods listed for sale. According to the UCC, you are a merchant.

Barb heard a shout of help from outside, where she saw her son Ron pushed up against the garage by Daisy (Ron's old girlfriend) in her pickup truck. Barb yelled for Daisy to stop and she backed away, but then revved up the engine to strike again. She was within inches of Ron when she slammed on her brakes, pushed the gearshift into reverse, and drove away. Daisy is liable to Ron under negligence.

Mo, loading dock manager at Gidgits Galore, sent Beau to a neighboring town about ten miles away with a rush delivery in the Gidgits Galore van. Beau was still feeling hungry, even though he had already taken his paid lunch break. He decided to take a detour to Wanda's Drive Thru for another triple burger, and then drop off a burger for his sister Lola. To get to Lola's, he veered off the main route that he should have been on for the delivery. After staying for coffee and donuts with his sister, he received a text from Mo asking where he was. Beau hurried to make the delivery, but as he was backing out of his sister's driveway, he hit another vehicle. Gidgits Galore is liable under negligence.

If Gary's boa constrictor escapes from its cage and eats Zoe's Chihuahua in front of her, Gary is liable to Zoe for intentional infliction of emotional distress.