Nancy and Fred Coworkers Case Study - Potential Tort Claim & Tortfeasors/Defendants Assert - Law Assignment Help

Assignment Task

Nancy and Fred Coworkers Case Study 

Nancy and Fred were coworkers. Nancy is an "at-will" employee, and Fred's employment is under a 2-year valid employment contract that ends in 2020 (terminable only for "just cause," the contractual definition of which did not include infidelity). Despite Nancy's angst at being an at-will employee while Fred had a valid employment contract, they became lovers and developed a  very close, seemingly loving, and intimate relationship. And, despite the close relationship, they each maintained separate homes (Fred owned a house with a fenced back yard, and Nancy owned a condo). During the relationship, Fred disclosed to Nancy deeply personal, private,  intimate, and embarrassing details about his early life, including that he had been sexually abused as a child (a fact which he had never told anybody in his life, except his psychologist). Nancy similarly disclosed to Fred intimate and private details of her life, including her intense fear of rejection. Fred swore to Nancy that he loved her and would never leave her. 

For whatever reason, Fred became disenchanted with the relationship and started frequenting  "dating" websites, through which Fred arranged a number of "hookups" with a series of female partners (all adults). Fred went to great lengths to keep the "hookups" secret from everyone.  As a result of these "hookups," Fred contracted syphilis. And, because these "hookups"  frequently involved visits to casinos, Fred amassed huge debt. 

One dark night when Nancy was hanging out at Fred's house, and Fred had run out to get more vodka so that Nancy and Fred could continue their "drunk," Nancy, emboldened by the fifth of vodka she had recently consumed, sensing that something "wasn't right" with the relationship, and always wondering what Fred kept in his locked closet, unlocked the closet (after rummaging around the kitchen drawers and finding a key) and started investigating. She noticed a footlocker with a padlock. Besides herself with curiosity, and because the padlock was unlocked, she opened the footlocker and started going through its contents. Near the bottom of the footlocker,  Nancy found lacy and perfumed "unmentionables" (that were not hers). Her disbelief rising and her hands trembling, Nancy dug deeper finding a sealed envelope. Tearing it open, Nancy discovered financial records indicating that Fred owed over $500,000 in gambling debts and was about to lose his house. Nancy also found photos of Fred "in flagrante delicto" with his illicit female partners (all adults), and medical records indicating his status as a syphilitic. 

Just then, Fred walked into the room with his mother. Furious, Nancy hurled an empty vodka bottle at Fred, intending to hit him, who ducked the instant before it would have smashed into his face. Because Fred ducked, the bottle struck his mother squarely in the face, putting out an eye and chipping 2 teeth, both of which required extensive cosmetic surgery. 

Subsequently, and still trembling with rage, Nancy fled the house (with the contents of the envelope, but not the envelope, in hand). As she backed her car out of the driveway, Nancy made it a point to run over Fred's beloved cat, squashing it flat. Nancy quickly penned a note stating "I  just squashed your cat. Squashed him flat. What do you think of that?" Nancy then pinned the 

note to the cat and threw the cat over a fence into what she thought was Fred's back yard, but which was actually Fred's neighbor's back yard.  

While driving at a high rate of speed (so she could get home and make posts on Facebook on her  PC), Nancy began texting Fred (to tell him what a jerk and a liar he was). Engrossed in texting,  and blinded with rage (not to mention her intoxication), Nancy failed to see a pedestrian in a  crosswalk (who was crossing the street against the red light). Nancy's car struck the pedestrian broadside causing the pedestrian to fly through the air and land, with a thud, on the hood of a  passing car, severely denting the hood. The pedestrian, who happened to be a renowned concert violinist, was carrying her Stradivarius violin (built-in 1695) at the time of the collision. As the pedestrian sailed through the air, the violin fell to the pavement and was run over by a passing car. 

The pedestrian suffered horrendous injuries, including a fractured pelvis, a fractured right femur,  traumatic amputation of her left hand, and loss of several teeth. Fortunately (?) a nurse on her way home from an 18-hour shift at the local hospital witnessed the collision and stopped to render aid. But failing to perform a proper initial "head to toe survey" on the pedestrian, the nurse prematurely turned the pedestrian onto her back and in the process, the jagged edges of the fractured pelvis cut into the pedestrian's ladder leading to life-long incontinence. During surgery to reduce the femur fracture, the surgeon failed to pay adequate attention to what he was doing, resulting in a permanent shortening of the right leg (making it 2 inches shorter than the left leg). 

Leaving the scene of the collision before the nurse and police arrived, Nancy rushed home, fired  up her personal computer, and did the following:  Nancy e-mailed her friend Margie and said "Fred was abused as a child." - Nancy e-mailed her friend Mary and said, "I just hit a pedestrian while drunk and texting." "My boyfriend -- make it ex-boyfriend -- Fred is a lying and cheating slut, and here are the pictures to prove it (Nancy included the pictures she took from the envelope in Fred's closet).  Nancy made a public post on Facebook stating "Fred was abused as a child. Fred's been sleeping around. Fred now has syphilis, owes half a million dollars in gambling debts, and is about to lose  his house." When Fred got home from his vodka run, his neighbor called him and said, I think your cat is in  my backyard, just come in through the side gate and get him." Unbeknownst to Fred, there existed a 1-foot deep hole in the neighbor's back yard right inside the gate, which had been dug by the neighbor in an attempt to find the source of water saturating the backyard. No barricades existed around the hole and the hole was uncovered. Having no knowledge of the hole, and not seeing the hole due to darkness, Fred tripped in the hole falling face-first onto a warm, moist,  furry mass. Striking a match, Fred saw that the mass was his dead, flat, squashed cat, with a note pinned to it that said "I just squashed your cat. Squashed him flat. What do you think of that?" 

Fred broke his ankle in the fall, and claimed to be depressed, anxious, fearful, and unable to sleep after seeing his cat (with the attached note) and learning that the warm, moist, furry mass he felt when he fell was the remains of his cat.  Nancy then went over to Fred's boss's house and told the boss she had found, in Fred's closet,  photos of Fred having sex with male children while wearing a t-shirt bearing the logo of Fred's and Nancy's employer. Outraged, the boss immediately called up Fred and said "YOU'RE FIRED,"  hung up the phone, and sent out a company-wide e-mail that said, "The company just fired Fred  because he is a disgusting pedophile." As might be expected, all sorts of litigation ensued with all sorts of people seeking all sorts of money from others.  

Questions: 

Utilizing the concepts and language set forth in your chapters concerning intentional torts and negligence law, provide thorough analytical responses to the following questions.  

1. What tort claims (if any) does Fred potentially have against Nancy? Be sure and identify the  "elements" of each potential claim (or tort) and explain how the facts to support or negate each element of each potential tort claim. If he has any claims against Nancy, what defenses might  Nancy assert? What type of damages might Fred seek for each tort (be specific)?  

2. What claims (if any) does the pedestrian potentially have, and against whom? With respect to each potential claim, identify the potential tortfeasor/defendant, identify the "elements" of each potential claim (or tort), and analyze/explain how the facts to support or negate each element of each potential tort claim. If the pedestrian has any potential claims, what defenses might the tortfeasors/defendants assert? What type of damages might the pedestrian seek from each tortfeasor/defendant (be specific)? 

3. Does Fred have any potential tort claims against anyone other than Nancy? If so, identify the tort claims and the tortfeasors/potential defendants. Be sure and identify the "elements"  of each potential claim (or tort) and explain how the facts support or negate each element of each potential tort claim. If he has any claims against other defendants, what defenses might those defendants assert? What type of damages might Fred seek for each tort (be specific)?

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