Honest Confusion: The Purpose of Compensatory Damages in Tort and Fraudulent Misrepresentation

Suppose that a plaintiff is injured in a rear-end collision car accident.Even though the rear-end collision was not a dramatic accident, the plaintiff incurred extensive medical expenses because of a preexisting medical condition.Through a negligence claim, the plaintiff can recover compensatory damages based on his medical expenses.But is it fair that the defendant should be liable for all of the damages?It is not as if he rear-ended the plaintiff on purpose.Maybe the fact that defendant's conduct was not reprehensible should reduce the amount of damages that the plaintiff recovers.Any first-year torts student knows that the defendant's argument will not succeed.The defendant's conduct does not control the amount of the plaintiff's compensatory damages.The damages are based on the plaintiff's injury because, in tort law, the purpose of compensatory damages is to make the plaintiff whole by putting him in the same position as if the tort had not occurred.1 But there are tort claims where the amount of compensatory damages is not always based on the plaintiff's injury.Suppose that a defendant fraudulently misrepresents that a car for sale is brand-new.The plaintiff then offers to purchase the car for $10,000.Had the car actually been new, it would have been worth $15,000, but the car was instead worth only $10,000.As they have for a very long time, the majority of jurisdictions would award the plaintiff $5000 in compensatory damages based on the plaintiff's expected benefit of the bargain. 2