Legal Definitions - tacit admission

A tacit admission refers to an acknowledgment of a fact or truth that is not explicitly stated but is instead inferred from a person's silence, inaction, or failure to deny an accusation or statement. This occurs under circumstances where a reasonable person would naturally speak up or offer a denial if the accusation or statement were untrue. It is an admission that is implied by conduct rather than expressed in words.

Here are some examples illustrating a tacit admission:

• Workplace Misconduct:

  Scenario: During a departmental meeting, a manager states, "The unauthorized access to the client database clearly happened on John's computer, and he was the only one in the office that evening." John is present, hears the accusation, and has a clear opportunity to respond or deny it, but he remains silent and offers no explanation.

  Explanation: John's silence, in a situation where he would reasonably be expected to defend himself if the accusation of unauthorized access were false, could be interpreted as a tacit admission that the event occurred as described or that he was involved.

• Disputed Invoice:

  Scenario: A freelance graphic designer sends a client an invoice for a project, including an itemized charge for "three rounds of revisions beyond the initial scope," which the designer claims was verbally approved. The client receives the invoice, reviews it, and then proceeds to pay the full amount without ever questioning, disputing, the additional charges, or seeking clarification.

  Explanation: By paying the invoice in full without protest or inquiry, the client's action (payment) could be seen as a tacit admission that they agreed to the additional revisions and their associated costs, even if no explicit written approval existed.

• Property Damage Claim:

  Scenario: After a minor car accident, Driver A tells Driver B, "You clearly ran that stop sign, which caused this collision." Driver B, who was driving the other vehicle, hears this statement, looks at the stop sign, and then simply shrugs and exchanges insurance information without offering any counter-argument or denying the claim.

  Explanation: Driver B's failure to deny the accusation of running the stop sign, especially when directly confronted with it and having the opportunity to dispute it, could be considered a tacit admission of fault for the accident.