Tater Tots & Trespass to Chattels

"Tampering with an automobile's exhaust is a felony." -- Sue Sylvester

 

Image: Wikimedia Commons

The ever-litigious Sue Sylvester made a few enemies on last week's episode of Glee, "The Substitute."  This episode explores what Glee club would be like without Mr. Schuster and also gives us a good excuse to discuss the intentional tort of trespass to chattels.  (Not that we even need an excuse - I mean chattels is such a fun word to say!)

While filling in for the flu-afflicted principal, Sue takes a stand on healthy teen lunches and bans tater tots from the school cafeteria.  This leads to a riot a McKinley High and no one is more bothered than Mercedes Jones. Mercedes responds by stuffing tater tots into Sue's tailpipe and soon finds herself in Principal Sylvester's office.  Sue informs her that the tots caused $17,000 worth of damage to her 1979 "LeCar," a "rare and desirable automobile . . . prized by collectors for its peerless grace among vintage European sportscars."  It is one of seven of its kind in existence and Sue had trouble finding a mechanic that had even heard of the "LeCar." 

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Sue's LeCar is "personal chattel," defined by Black's law dictionary as a moveable item that "is not attached to or has no connection with land."  The tort of trespass to chattels requires that the plaintiff establish:  (1) an act by defendant that interferes with plaintiff's right of possession in a chattel, (2) intent, (3) causation, and (4) damages.  She has an open and shut case: the stuffing of the tater tots into the exhaust pipe constitutes an act interfering with Sue's use of the car, Mercedes had the requisite intent ("I told her not to touch my tots"), and the tots caused $17,000 worth of damage. 

Sue might also consider basing a lawsuit on the tort of conversion.  The main difference between the two torts is that conversion requires an interference with the right to the chattel that is so serious, it warrants requiring defendant to pay the chattel's full value.  I was unable to track down the precise Kelley Blue Book value for a 1979 LeCar, but conversion might be a better option given the rarity of the automobile and the difficulty of finding compatible parts and a knowledgeable mechanic.

However, Sue seems much more concerned with justice than with getting compensated for the damage to her vehicle.  She threatens Mercedes that tampering with an automobile's exhaust is a felony in the State of Ohio and that she will be pressing charges.  Although Ohio's criminal code does not specifically prohibit tampering with exhaust pipes, this activity might fall under either the statute for Vandalism or Criminal Mischief.  Criminal mischief requires that the defendant "knowingly move, deface, damage, destroy, or otherwise improperly tamper with the property of another," but this conduct is only a misdemeanor.  Under the vandalism statute, however, $17,000 worth of damage to property would constitute a fourth degree felony, but only if the jury concluded that Sue's LeCar was "necessary in order for its owner or possessor to engage in the owner’s or possessor’s profession, business, trade, or occupation."  The Ohio Supreme Court recently upheld a jury verdict on this very issue where the damaged car was the victim's only means of performing her job as a self-employed health care assistant, which involved picking up groceries and prescriptions for various patients.  Whether this would extend to mere use as a mode of transportation to and from McKinley High School is unclear.

Luckily, Mercedes isn't too fazed about the possibility of jail time.  "You know what they have in prison . . . tots!"

Glee-gal Issues: Slander and Libel

"That glee club stole my private property and posted it online and as soon as I figure out the difference between slander and libel, I'm filing a lawsuit." -- Sue Sylvester

As the topic for this post is Glee, I thought I would start by announcing that I passed the Colorado Bar Exam!  Although I am now free to forget all the black-letter law I learned, in the name of analyzing television I press on!

Glee is a delightful musical tv show about a high school glee club called "New Directions."  The glee club geeks (or "Gleeks") are the joke of the school and actively despised by the head coach of the school's cheerleading squad, Sue Sylvester (played by the hilariously awesome Jane Lynch).  At the beginning of last week's episode "Bad Reputation," the Gleeks are watching a video that was carefully confiscated from Sue's office without her knowledge in which Sue channels her inner Olivia Newton-John and jazzercises to the song "Physical."  The Gleeks decide to post the video on youtube for the world to see and it quickly generates three million hits and over 170,000 comments.  Sue gets wind of what has happened and storms into the principal's office threatening to file a lawsuit . . . once she figures out the difference between slander and libel.

Defamation

Slander and libel are forms of the tort of defamation.  The law of defamation includes two parts:  the common law elements and the constitutional requirements.  The common law elements are:  (1) defamatory language, (2) "of or concerning" the plaintiff, (3) publication thereof by defendant to a third person, and (4) damage to plaintiff's reputation.  Anytime the defamation involves a "matter of public concern," the Constitution requires that the plaintiff prove two additional elements:  (1) falsity of the defamatory language and (2) fault on the part of the defendant.  Statements about public figures are typically considered "matters of public concern" and require proof of the two constitutional requirements.  Given that one of the youtube commenters notes that "the man in this video looks like the champion cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester," it is likely that Sue would be considered a public figure and would have to establish the two additional elements.

Libel and Slander

To answer Sue's question, libel occurs when there is a written or printed publication of defamatory language, while slander is spoken defamation.  The main reason for distinguishing between slander and libel relates to the fourth element of defamation: damage to plaintiff's reputation.  In a slander case, the plaintiff must prove "special damages", i.e. that she has suffered some sort of pecuniary loss as a result of the defamation.  In a libel case, however, plaintiff does not need to prove special damages and harm is often presumed.  The reason for this distinction is the fact that spoken words will only reach a small audience when compared to a publication.  In cases where it is unclear whether the defamation is libel or slander, factors to consider are the permanency, area of dissemination, and deliberate character of the publication.  Defamation on radio and television programs are generally treated as libel if it is sufficiently permanent, premeditated, and broadly enough disseminated.  It seems that a youtube video would be considered libel, given that it is recorded and can be easily viewed by a wide audience.   

However, it is doubtful that Sue Sylvester's libel claim would get off the ground.  I'm not sure that a dance routine she performed (and recorded) herself could be construed as "defamatory language," even though it was posted without her permission.  Rather than figuring the difference between libel and slander, perhaps Sue should look into the elements for the tort of invasion of right to privacy.  In the end, Sue Sylvester winds up benefiting from the viral video when Olivia Newton-John herself invites Sue to participate in a video re-make of "Physical."

Slander Per Se

Even though Sue Sylvester has no viable defamation lawsuit, it occurred to me that other characters in this episode might.  Emma Pillsbury, the loveable OCD-afflicted school counselor approaches glee club director Mr. Schuester in the cafeteria and yells repeatedly in front of the entire school, "You're a SLUT, you're a SLUT."  Mr. Schu might have a case if this statement is considered slander per se, i.e. slander that does not require the plaintiff to prove the element of harm.  The traditional four categories of slander per se are statements that:  (1) adversely reflect on one's conduct in a business or profession, (2) one has a loathsome disease, (3) one is or was guilty of a crime involving moral turpitude, or (4) a woman is unchaste.  The modern trend has transformed the "unchaste woman" category into statements of serious sexual misconduct or perverse behavior, as judged by the moral standards of the community.  Depending on the community standards in Lima, Ohio, Mr. Schu might have some legal retribution after being publicly labeled a man-whore.   

Glibel

Also at issue in this episode was the anonymously written "Glist," or weekly ranking of the glee club based on a hotness quotient of sexual promiscuity, where a point is earned for each act of perpetuated depravity. (The Glist is perhaps art imitating life in light of the "Slut List" controversy at a New Jersey high school last fall.)  Given the publication and damaging nature of the list, students on the Glist might have a libel action.  However, none of the Gleeks seemed too eager to file a lawsuit as the ones who felt most damaged by the Glist were those whose names were left off.