Also known as: menaces · menaced · menacing · threat · threatening
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A threat of unlawful injury to the person, property, or character of another that induces consent to a transaction. The threat renders the resulting contract voidable by the victim when it leaves no reasonable alternative and qualifies as improper under governing standards.
Meredith Maxwell tells Mina Mehta that she will destroy Mehta's warehouse equipment unless Mehta signs a supply contract at inflated prices. Mehta signs the contract to avoid the loss. The threat qualifies as improper because it promises a tortious act, allowing Mehta to avoid the agreement.
Mason McCarthy blocks Mariam Mansour from leaving a storage room and warns that he will physically restrain her if she tries to exit. Mansour stays inside to avoid the contact. The threat of immediate force induces submission to a contract modification that Mansour may later avoid.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Michael Miller burns a cross on Maurice Marshall's lawn while stating that Marshall must leave the neighborhood or face further violence. Marshall reasonably fears imminent harm. The threat induces Marshall to sign over property rights, rendering the transfer voidable.
Metro Bank security guard threatens to shoot Michael Miller if he does not drop a bag and remain still. Miller complies out of fear. The threat of deadly force induces Miller to sign a release, making the agreement voidable as improper.
Majestic Construction tells Morgan Financial that it will vandalize a completed project site unless Morgan pays an extra fee. Morgan pays to avoid the damage. The threat of a tortious act renders the payment agreement voidable.
Mirage Hotels manager orders Mason McCarthy to stay in a conference room or face immediate physical removal. McCarthy remains because he fears the contact. The conditional threat induces assent to modified employment terms that McCarthy may avoid.
Menace is technically a threat of duress or injury to person, property, or character, while duress involves actual unlawful confinement. Courts often treat the terms interchangeably when a threat induces consent.
Supporting sources
A threat of immediate physical force upon any attempt to leave the area confines the victim by submission and supports liability even without physical barriers.
A threat is improper if it promises a crime or tort, a criminal prosecution, or bad-faith use of civil process, or meets other factors such as lack of benefit to the threatening party.
No. Cross burning carried out with intent to intimidate is a true threat that a state may prohibit without violating the First Amendment.
…of blacks; "[i]n cities across the country, urban renewal came to be known as Negro removal.'" Pritchett, The "Public Menace" of Blight: Urban Renewal and the Private Uses of Eminent Domain, 21 Yale L. & Pol'y Rev. 1, 47 (2003). Over 97 percent of the individuals forcibly removed from their homes by the…