Wikipedia: Cause of action

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Legal terminology for a reason to go to court. Certain causes of action are specifically recognized in law as being sufficient to get a court to recognize and try them. Others are recognized in court as a matter of common law.

If a person runs over another in a car, this would generally constitute a cause of action. One may, in contrast, seek to file a suit over the fact that one was offended by an obscene gesture. The latter fact would not be recognized by a court of law as a cause of action, and the matter would be dismissed as a frivolous lawsuit, possibly resulting in sanctions.

A legally recognizable right to sue; that is, one for which a court can fashion a remedy. A cause of action encompasses both the concept of rights (a set of protections given in law to everyone) and remedies (the power to help in a meaningful way someone whose rights have been violated).