LAW 604C Lecture Notes - Lecture 30: Distress (Medicine), Miscarriage
Document Summary
Class 30: 11/15/16: special types of harm. Emotional harm, when proven, is recoverable as pain and suffering or some other type of damage. It is a parasitic damage; meaning that the damage is recoverable for some other tort not a stand-alone claim of emotional distress. Liability for physical and emotional harm: extreme and outrageous conduct, intentionally or recklessly, causes severe emotional harm. If emotional harm causes bodily harm, also liable for bodily harm. Defendant would verbally abuse, threaten, and degrade his employees on a consistent basis. Takeaway is that generally, insensitive or even rude behavior does not constitute extreme and outrageous conduct. Similarly, mere insults, indignities, threats, annoyances, petty oppressions, or other trivialities do not rise to the level of extreme and outrageous conduct. Generally, repeated offenses by a person in a power position over others, and directed to a person known to be vulnerable will likely support a finding of intentional emotional harm.
