Fred, after not having seen tom for five years, slaps tom on the back and says, "how's it going, ol' buddy?", but not hard enough to injure tom. tom does not like to be slapped on the back and this is known to fred. does tom have a cause of action against fred?

No

Explanation:

Cause of action may be defined as the violation of the right which entitles the plaintiff to bring a lawsuit against other. A cause of statement is basically the statement which says that the wrongful act of a person merely harmed other person so that the victim can sue the other person.

In the context, Fred is an old friend of Tom. After many years when Fred met Tom, he slap Tom on his back not hard enough to harm him or injure him. Though Tom did not like this act but he cannot put a cause of against Fred because Fred does not meant to harm or injure Tom by slapping in the back.

i don't know the answer to this