California First-Year Law Students' Exam (Baby Bar) — MCTortsEasy
A disgruntled former employee, seeking revenge against their previous employer, intentionally accessed the company's internal network using a stolen password. The employee then deleted several non-essential, archived project files, causing no direct financial loss but forcing the company to spend several hours restoring the data from backups. Which of the following torts has most likely occurred?
- AIntentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
- BConversion
- CFraudulent Misrepresentation
- DTrespass to Chattels
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Trespass to Chattels
Trespass to chattels involves intentionally interfering with another's personal property, causing some harm, even if not significant. Deleting files, even non-essential ones, and causing restoration efforts constitutes sufficient harm for this tort.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress requires extreme and outrageous conduct causing severe emotional distress, which is not indicated by these facts.
- B. Conversion requires a more substantial interference with the chattel, often amounting to destruction or permanent deprivation, which is not clearly present here.
- C. Fraudulent Misrepresentation requires a false statement of material fact, made with intent to induce reliance, and actual reliance and damages, none of which are present.
Trespass to Chattels
An intentional interference with the right of possession of personal property, causing harm, impairment of condition, quality, or value, or deprivation of use for a substantial time.
- Requires intentional act (not necessarily malice).
- Interference with personal property.
- Harm or deprivation of use must occur, even if minor.
Memory trick: Chattels are like digital files, easily 'trespassed' upon.