Recently an angry shareholder and prolific message

Recently an angry shareholder and prolific message board poster who has disparaged DECN's CEO many times, in a public setting, called a company agent. When the call was completed, the agent immediately called their lawyers who recommended first to inform the company (DECN) and then prepare for litigation. The company has subsequently agreed to join this litigation.

Business torts are bad things. For example calling a company employee or agent without a company's permission is interference in the company's normal course of business, particularly when the interference is intentional.

What is a Business Tort?

A business tort is a type of legal violation involving wrongdoing in a business setting or relationship. This type of tort typically covers legal disputes involving improper and intentional interference with another party’s business interests. Sometimes, this area of law overlaps with contract law. Business torts can result in various losses, including:

Loss of business opportunities;
Loss of business clients;
Damage to, or loss of, business relations; and/or
Loss of business ideas or protected works


What are Some Types of Business Torts?

Business torts can take many different forms. Some common example of business torts are:

Wrongful Interference: This occurs when a third party intentionally interferes with business relations, such as contracts and negotiations, between two parties.

Disparagement: This happens when the defendant disseminates false statements about the quality of a company’s products or goods. As a result, the company loses business and experiences losses. The types of false statement include fake reviews, libel, and slander.

Unfair Competition: This is where a defendant misappropriated the plaintiff’s intellectual property, such as a trademark or slogan, or puts out a product that is intended to confuse customers into thinking that the plaintiff put out the product. The plaintiff usually files a trademark or copyright infringement lawsuit.

Various parties can be held liable for business parties. In some case, multiple persons can be involved in a single violation, especially where the tortious conduct has been specifically planned on by a group of persons.

Loss of business reputation;

Loss of profits that are calculable with reasonable certainty; and
Punitive damages (damages that are intended to punish the defendant for particularly egregious or harmful conduct).

Another category of remedies is called equitable remedies. This involves the court issuing an injunction or an order, which tells the defendant to either take certain actions or to stop certain conduct.