Intentional Tort: Meaning And Examples (June 2025)

What Is an Intentional Tort?

Law students do not learn personal injury law. Instead, they study tort law. Tort law covers most wrongs committed between parties that cause bodily injury, property damage, or reputational harm.

Under English common law, torts, contracts, and property had ill-defined boundaries and overlapped one another. Torts were defined to exclude anything that involved real property or a contract. But even these categories had exceptions. For example, torts include trespass to land and intentional interference with contractual relations.

Intentional tort definition centers on the deliberate nature of the wrongful act rather than any accidental consequences. Unlike in negligence cases, where harm may arise from carelessness, intentional torts involve a purposeful action aimed at causing harm or interference. This intent to act is what legally separates intentional torts from other types of claims.

Torts break down into three further categories based on the level of knowledge and intent required to commit them:

• Intentional torts
• Negligence
• Strict liability torts

Intentional torts require the highest level of knowledge or intent. To prove an intentional tort, you must have evidence that the other party intended to commit the action that resulted in the harm.

Which example describes an intentional tort? A classic example is trespass. If someone runs onto your land, they have trespassed because running is an intentional act. If someone falls onto your land, they have not trespassed because falling is not intentional.

Negligence requires you to show that the other party failed to exercise reasonable care. In other words, someone is negligent when a reasonable person would have acted differently. A car accident settlement, for example, happens when an insurer recognizes its covered driver failed to drive with due care.

Strict liability does not require any proof of knowledge or intent. It is reserved for inherently dangerous activities like manufacturing defective products for mass consumption or keeping dangerous animals. Injury lawyers use strict liability when filing product liability lawsuits.

Intentional Torts vs. Crimes

Some acts qualify as both intentional torts and crimes. However, the civil and criminal systems serve different purposes. Tort lawsuits are filed by victims and meant to compensate them for losses caused by someone else’s actions. The victim receives money if they win.

Criminal cases, on the other hand, are filed by the government to punish people for their dangerous or harmful acts. The government can ask for fines or imprisonment if it wins.

For example, a religious leader accused of sexual abuse might be prosecuted for rape or sexual assault. At the same time, the victims could seek clergy sexual abuse lawsuit settlements by filing intentional tort claims.

Intentional Tort Examples

The law recognizes many types of intentional torts. Some of the most common include:

Battery

Battery happens when someone performs an intentional action that results in harmful or offensive contact with your body. The battery could occur when someone attacks and injures you. But it can also happen in less obvious situations.

For example, intentionally slapping the phone out of your hand, spitting on you, or throwing an object at you could also qualify as a battery.

Battery does not require proof that the other party intended to injure you. When someone throws a bottle at one person and hits another, the victim has a claim for battery even though they were not the intended target.

Assault

Assault is often described as an attempted or unsuccessful battery. An assault happens when someone intentionally performs an action that places you in fear of an imminent battery. Thus, suppose that a road rage driver deliberately swerves at you. Your lawyer can prove assault if you genuinely thought they would hit you.

Trespass to Land

Intentional torts also include damaging acts toward your property. When someone intentionally interferes with the exclusive use and enjoyment of your land, they have trespassed.

Defamation

Defamation, formerly called slander and libel, happens when someone intentionally utters or publishes a false statement about you that demeans your character and reputation.

Under the First Amendment, defamation of public figures only happens when the speaker or writer knows of the statement’s falsity or recklessly proceeds regardless of the truth.

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (IIED)

You may be surprised to learn that you can sue for emotional distress, even if you suffer no physical injuries. This is because of the concept of IIED, which occurs when someone deliberately does something so outrageous that the victim suffers from emotional distress, injuries aside.

For example, suppose that someone injures the victim’s dog while in the victim’s fenced yard simply because they are annoyed by its barking. While the victim may be unable to pursue a claim for the dog’s injury, they could file a claim for IIED for the grief and worry they experienced.

False Imprisonment and Other Intentional Torts

The law covers additional intentional torts, including:

• False imprisonment for intentionally confining the victim against their will
• Trespass to chattels for interfering with the victim’s personal property
• Conversion for converting the victim’s property to the accused party’s use

These intentional torts may be rarely used, but they work in specific cases.

Legal Claims for Intentional Torts

Victims of intentional torts have a right to seek various forms of compensation, including damages for physical injuries, emotional distress, and sometimes punitive damages aimed at deterring similar behavior in the future. This is particularly important in cases of severe or repeated intentional harm, where courts may award punitive damages in addition to general compensation.

You can pursue a claim against someone who commits an intentional tort such as slander. This claim will allow you to seek compensation for the losses you incurred. As you and your lawyer consider how and against whom to assert a claim, you should keep the following considerations in mind:

Benefits and Drawbacks Compared to Negligence

A benefit of intentional torts is that you are not required to prove your losses. A jury can presume that you suffered damage from the intentional wrong and award a fair sum based on the testimony explaining how your injuries affected you. For example, in cases involving intentional transmission of a sexually transmitted disease (STD), courts recognize the deliberate nature of the act and may award damages for both physical harm and emotional distress.

A drawback of intentional torts is that insurance companies of all sizes usually deny coverage for intentional acts. Thus, if you assert another driver deliberately injured you in a road rage incident, their auto insurance company will probably deny your claim, arguing that its policy only covers negligence.

Intentional tort claims can provide a broader scope for compensation. Because the act itself is considered harmful, courts can award damages even without specific proof of financial loss. This can benefit victims in cases of emotional or reputational harm, where the impact may be severe but harder to quantify in traditional monetary terms.

Asserting Multiple Legal Theories

In many cases, you can assert both intentional and negligent tort claims. For example, suppose your elderly relative died due to nursing home abuse. You might have a battery claim against the employee who caused the fatal injury. You may also have a negligence claim against the facility for failing to supervise its workers.

What Damages Can You Recover?

Personal injury law allows you to seek compensation for both economic and non-economic losses, such as:

• Medical bills and therapy
• Lost earnings
• Disability
• Disfigurement
• Pain and suffering

Since the victim does not need to prove their losses in an intentional tort case, they instead present evidence and testimony to set a baseline for the jury. When the jury deliberates, they use their experience and collective conscience to award a fair amount.

Statute of Limitations for Intentional Torts

States generally set deadlines for filing intentional tort claims. Make sure to consult an attorney about the deadline in your state because some states impose different limits on intentional vs. negligent acts. For example, Florida has a four-year deadline for most intentional torts but a two-year deadline for negligence.

Do I Need a Lawyer for an Intentional Tort Case?

You should always consider consulting a lawyer after an injury. A lawyer can determine whether your case involves negligence, an intentional tort or both.

If your case involves an intentional tort, a lawyer can help you gather the evidence needed to prove the other party’s intent. Moreover, they know how to sue someone effectively and can develop strategies to get the most compensation possible.

Learn More From ConsumerShield

Intentional torts provide a powerful tool for holding parties responsible for the losses they cause. ConsumerShield is dedicated to educating consumers about their legal rights and connecting them with legal representation. Contact us for a free case evaluation.