Intentional Torts or Intentional Misconduct

Fraud | Assault and Battery | Defamation
Invasion of Privacy | False Imprisonment and False Arrest

An intentional tort (or intentional misconduct) occurs when a person intends to injure another. A victim of an intentional tort is entitled to recover monetary damages, including for (a) medical expenses; (b) pain and suffering; and (c) lost wages.

In addition to compensatory damages, a victim of an intentional tort is entitled to recover punitive damages to punish the defendant for his or her misconduct and to discourage others from committing the same offense.

In several cases, Stewart A. Sutton has obtain punitive damage verdicts for clients who have been injured as a result of an intentional tort.

Fraud

Fraud occurs when a person intentionally makes a false representation and the victim suffers damages as a result of his justifiable reliance on the false statement. Typically, fraud occurs in the context of a business transaction in which one party deliberately deceives the other concerning the nature or quality of the item being purchased.

Stewart A. Sutton obtained a judgment for compensatory and punitive damages against an attorney who had intentionally misrepresented to his client that he had filed a lawsuit on his behalf. As a result of the attorney’s deliberate false statement, the client lost his right to sue and collect damages from a third-party due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

Stewart A. Sutton also obtained a judgment for a wife whose husband had used her credit card without her authority. 

Top ^

Assault and Battery

Assault and battery occurs when a person threatens to harm or actually harms another. The perpetrator will often be criminally charged and convicted.

Stewart A. Sutton has successfully represented minors and adults who have been assaulted and/or battered by staff and patients at hospitals in Maryland.

Top ^

Defamation

Defamation occurs when a person publishes a false statement that harms the reputation of another.

Top ^

Invasion of Privacy

Medical providers and businesses have a duty to maintain the confidentiality of their patients’ and customers’ records.

Stewart A. Sutton has successfully represented a patient whose confidential medical records were intentionally disclosed by an employee of the physician’s office. In another case, he successfully represented a student whose confidential HIV positive status was intentionally disclosed by a substitute teacher to an entire classroom of students.

Stewart A. Sutton also obtained a settlement for a female high school student who had confidentially disclosed to a newspaper reporter that she had been a victim of a sexual assault, but the newspaper published this fact without her consent.

Top ^

False Imprisonment and False Arrest

False imprisonment occurs when a person is held against his or her will without legal cause; and false arrest occurs when a person is detained by another without probable cause that a felony or disturbance of the peace has been committed.

These related intentional torts are usually committed by overzealous and under-trained security guards. Stewart A. Sutton has successfully represented many clients who have been victimized by security guards. As result of a series of lawsuits he filed against a security guard firm in Montgomery County, the state of Maryland enacted a new statute that requires security guards to have good, moral character. Under this new statute, the license of a racist security guard can now be revoked.

Top ^