Introduction, Learning Outcomes, and Relevant Modules
As the owner of a same-day delivery business, you have successfully lobbied the state legislature to allow fully autonomous vehicles (AVs) for limited uses, one of which is deliveries. However, the statute restricts the top speed of AVs to 35 mph. This means that unless you choose to limit your delivery area to those parts of the city with speed limits less than or equal to 35 mph, your company must continue to employ some number of human drivers (for those deliveries which require driving at speeds > 35 mph).
At the completion of Part III, students will be able to:
Understand the ways in which the law treats physical harms different from emotional and economic harms
Understand the difference between negligence and intentional torts
Apply the collateral source rule
Understand the basics of privacy torts
Relevant Modules
Module 9: Emotional Harms
Module 10: Intentional Torts and Defenses
Module 11: The Collateral Source Rule; Alternatives to the Tort System
Module 12: Defamation, Privacy Torts, and Liability Waivers
Your submission to the Part III Skills Assignment will be comprised of four separate sections as identified in the following headings.
Section 1: Intentional Torts and Defenses; Emotional Harms
Note: The required length of this section will be 1-2 pages.
Fact Pattern 1
Over the last several years, your drivers have been involved in a small number of incidents which have given rise to liability not for negligence, but for intentional torts.
Three Part Question (3-4 paragraphs)
Please describe a hypothetical incident involving a company driver, which involves the intentional torts of battery and assault. (Specifically identify what fact(s) give rise to each of those two torts in your hypothetical.)
Describe two ways in which liability and potential damages for a defendant in such an incident differ from a defendant in an incident involving normal negligence.
Explain the general rule for recovery of damages for emotional harms. Provide one example of how the incident you described above could result in liability for emotional harm.
Fact Pattern 2
Because (presumably) an AV could be programmed to behave in a non-tortious manner, your assumption has been that the use of AVs would decrease your tort exposure for intentional torts (in addition to incidents of negligence). However, while reading about the programming logic of AVs, you became newly interested in what is commonly referred to as “The Trolley Problem.” For a short explanation of this thought experiment (including a mention of how it applies to AVs specifically), please watch this linked Ted-Ed talk.
It now occurs to you that your AVs will have to make difficult “decisions” related to accident avoidance.
One-Part Question (1-2 paragraphs)
If one of your AVs caused a lesser accident to avoid a greater accident, would the victim of the lesser accident be able to successfully sue you (as the AV’s owner) for the intentional tort of battery? (Note: This question is somewhat philosophical. As such, there is not a single correct answer.  Please feel free to incorporate any prior course lessons/discussions in your response.)
Section 2: Defamation, Privacy Torts, and Liability Waivers
Note: The required length of this section will be 2-3 paragraphs.
Fact Pattern
You began considering cuts to your employees, in advance of your rollout of AVs. However, you know that once you begin this process, your former employees will begin applying for new jobs, and you have heard from other business owners that providing references for former employees is a common source of lawsuits for the tort of defamation.
Question
Describe each of the elements of defamation. Explain how you will minimize the risk of potential defamation lawsuits when providing potential employers with information related to your former employees.
Section 3: The Collateral Source Rule
Note: The required length of this section will be 2-3 paragraphs.
Fact Pattern
As your business has grown, you have become aware of the need to protect its assets, and are considering purchasing a high-limit umbrella liability policy, which would provide extended general protection beyond any other company insurance policies.
Question
Applying the considerations discussed by Professor Bayern in his lecture regarding the collateral source rule (Module 11), discuss the thought process you might engage in when attempting to determine what amount of liability insurance might best protect your company’s assets from the threat of future lawsuits.
Section 4: A Final Decision: Productivity vs. Liability
Note: The required length of this section will be 2-3 paragraphs.
Fact Pattern
A business must balance productivity with liability risks. One decision you are faced with is how aggressively your AVs should be programmed to drive while making deliveries. All AVs have a setting from 1-10, where 1 is driving as carefully as possible, and 10 is getting somewhere as quickly as possible. As a result of exhaustive safety studies and simulations, you have determined that for each one-point increase this setting, each vehicle experiences a daily productivity increase of 10%. (i.e., each vehicle can make approximately 10% more daily deliveries.) However, there is a corresponding increase in each of two pre-existing dangers: 1) it becomes 2% more likely that the robot makes an incorrect delivery and 2) it becomes 2% more likely that the robot makes an error that causes a traffic accident.
While attending networking events with other business owners, you have gathered some information about how other companies in the area plan to set their AVs:
Two local pizza delivery companies will be using AVs for downtown deliveries. One of them will set their AVs at 3/10, and the other will set theirs at 4/10.
A flower company will set their AV at 2/10.
A hospital, which will use an AV to send emergency medicine and medical supplies to local doctors and clinics, will set their AV to 9/10.
Question
Given your desire to maximize net profits (of which tort liability is a negative component), how would you set your AVs, and why?