complaint for negligence

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The Boat Repair incident

Mark takes his boat to Ray’s Marine every year to have the bottom painted. Last year, when Mark pulled the boat from the water for its annual painting, he discovered that the entire stern (back of the boat) was covered in barnacles because Ray had not painted that section of the boat. Mark was so upset that he took to boat to Waterman’s Wake to strip the barnacles and paint the boat.

complaint for negligence

He told everyone at Waterman’s (and at the waterfront pubs) that Ray did not complete the work, did a terrible job, and was responsible for Mark having to pay additional fees at Waterman’s to have the barnacles removed before the boat could be painted. Ray has heard the statements from several other boat owners when they explained why they did not bring their boats to Ray’s to be painted this year.

the criminal trial

After Ray heard ten of his former customers make the same statement, he went to Mark’s house with his baseball bat and told Mark to “take back his statements” or he would knock his head off of his shoulders. Mark said “no way, all the statements are true”. Ray became so angry that he swung the bat at Mark and barely missed his head. Mark closed the door and called the police. Ray was arrested at his shop.

Ray was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon in the criminal trial. He served 6 months in jail.

Ray is now suing Mark in Federal District Court for slander and disparagement. He says that Mark should not be allowed to get away with slandering him and hurting his business.

Mark has asked that the case be removed to the State Superior Court. He has filed a cross complaint for negligence against Ray and seeks compensation for the damage to his boat, cost of repairs and for assault.

complaint for negligence

Answer the following questions:

1. Should the case be removed to Superior Court? Explain.

2. How do you vote on Ray’s slander issue? Explain

3. How do you vote on Ray’s disparagement issue? Explain

4. How do you vote on Mark’s negligence claim? Explain

5. How do you vote on Mark’s assault claim? Explain