Liability For Emotional Distress

While jurisdictions across the country differ on what they consider extreme and outrageous conduct, most agree on the following essential elements of the claim.

The legal term “Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress” (IIED) claims that a defendant’s intentional or reckless conduct was so outrageous that it caused the plaintiff severe emotional distress.

The difficulty in proving an IIED claim is convincing a jury that the defendant’s acts amounted to extreme and outrageous conduct and that the plaintiff suffered severe emotional distress. Both of these elements arguably have a subjective quality to them.

Intentional Infliction Of Emotional Distress Claims

Extreme And Outrageous Conduct

One example of extreme and outrageous conduct is a defendant telling a mother that her son died in a car accident and to please come by the morgue to identify the body.

Another example is a defendant pretending to be calling from a doctor’s office and informing a patient who was awaiting HIV lab results that the test was, unfortunately, positive. With this particular strain, the defendant said, the plaintiff only had a few months to live.

The Legal Arguments – Emotional Distress

The defense will attempt to prove that there was no reckless intent to harm the defendant and that the act did not reach the threshold of extreme or outrageous.

Plaintiff’s counsel will ask the jury to look at the severity of the plaintiff’s current emotional state to resolve whether the defendant’s acts were sufficiently extreme and outrageous enough to cause emotional damage.

Proving Severe Emotional Distress Damages

The defense will argue that the severe emotional distress claim must go beyond mild to moderate fear, anxiety, stress, and depression that most people experience over the course of their lives. 

The defense will insist that the plaintiff must prove it met the threshold of severe emotional distress at a clinical level. Both sides will include experts to establish, from a medical perspective, whether the plaintiff has suffered severe emotional damage.

The plaintiff’s expert might point to symptoms that are usually associated with severe emotional distress, examples of which include:

• Changes to Personality – Unexpected emotional outbursts and uncontrollable crying
• Isolation – Not wanting to leave the house or participate in social or family events
• Uncontrollable Shaking
• Severe Sleep Deprivation
• Hopelessness – Extended periods of depression and despair
• Suicidal Thoughts
• Poor Hygiene

Legal Defense –Preexisting Conditions

In IIED claims, the defense will establish that the plaintiff was already in a depressed and anxious state before the incident occurred. The defense will argue that the plaintiff was already going through life-changing trouble, such as financial problems, foreclosure, and a recent divorce.

The Eggshell Plaintiff – The Straw That Broke The Camel’s Back

Some jurisdictions will allow the plaintiff to establish that the plaintiff was particularly vulnerable to the defendant’s extreme and outrageous conduct, such that a complete emotional collapse ensued, leaving the plaintiff in a permanent and severe emotional condition. This is sometimes referred to in medical terms as post-traumatic stress syndrome.

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