One day a group of three boys entered a store. The store owner's name was Sam and the boys' names were Sim, Nick, and Mic. The boys were behaving in a very odd manner in the store: displacing the merchandise, making passing comments about the customers, and yelling and teasing each other. Therefore, an employee in Sam's store asked them to leave. They did not leave. Instead Nick went towards the store exit and started throwing wooden matches on the sidewalk. Most matches he threw were not ignited, but some were. On being asked to stop he said that the matches cannot stay lit up at such a distance especially since he was throwing them from some height. But, somehow one of the ignited matches caused a small fire in the store. Sam ran to put out the fire and, furious about what the boys were doing, called one of his employees for help. The employee and Sam then grabbed Nick to restrain him. Just when they were trying to restrain Nick, with both hands, the employee's forehead hit Nick in the face and caused severe bleeding and injuries to his nose. Nick filed a lawsuit against Sam and his employee asking for damages due to assault. Nick's mother who was really disturbed by the whole incident also filed a lawsuit against the store owner and his employee over the medical expenses.

If you were the judge, how would you decide on the case, and why?

Students will post their answers in a discussion forum. Peer are encouraged to comment on answers/opinions shared.