[2] A tort of negligent interference occurs when one party's negligence damages the contractual or business relationship between others, causing economic harm, such as by blocking a waterway or causing a blackout that prevents the utility company from being able to uphold its existing contracts with consumers.
[8] A tort of negligent interference occurs when one party's negligence damages the contractual or business relationship between others, causing economic harm, such as by blocking a waterway or causing a blackout preventing the utility company from being able to uphold its existing contracts with consumers.
[9] The Court of King's Bench said that "the defendant threatened violence to the extent of committing an assault[10] upon ... customers of the plaintiff ... whereupon 'they all desisted from buying'."
The defendant claimed, by way of justification, that the local native ruler had given it an exclusive franchise to trade with his subjects, but the court rejected this defense.
Although the ducks had not yet been captured, the Justice Holt wrote for the court that "where a violent or malicious act is done to a man's occupation, profession, or way of getting a livelihood, there an action lies in all cases."
In OBG v Allan [2008] 1 AC 1, wrongful interference, the unified theory which treated causing loss by unlawful means as an extension of the tort of inducing a breach of contract, was abandoned; inducing breach of contract and causing loss by unlawful means were two separate torts.
In the United Kingdom, a trade union encouraging or facilitating workers to take strike action commits tortious interference with the employees' contracts of employment, unless the action is conducted in accordance with Part V of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, as amended.
"Commonly included among improper means are actions which are independently actionable, violations of federal or state law or unethical business practices, e.g., violence, misrepresentation, unfounded litigation, defamation, trade libel or trade mark infringement.
"[18] Other examples of wrongful conduct are "fraud, misrepresentation, intimidation, coercion, obstruction or molestation of the rival or his servants or workmen".
[19] Typical legal damages for tortious interference include economic losses, if they can be proven with certainty, and mental distress.