2.4 Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (IIED)

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (IIED) is a tort that allows recovery for severe emotional distress caused by extreme, outrageous conduct. It requires the defendant's actions to go beyond mere insults, with intent or recklessness to cause severe distress.

To prove IIED, the conduct must be so outrageous it exceeds all bounds of decency. Factors like abuse of power, taking advantage of vulnerable people, or repeated incidents are considered. The emotional distress must be severe, beyond what a reasonable person could endure.

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (IIED)

Elements of IIED tort

Top images from around the web for Elements of IIED tort

• 

  Do psychotherapists, doctors and leaders develop "emotional chainmail"? Some ways of building ... View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Frontiers | Mental Resilience and Coping With Stress: A Comprehensive, Multi-level Model of ... View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Frontiers | The 4Ds of Dealing With Distress – Distract, Dilute, Develop, and Discover: An Ultra ... View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Do psychotherapists, doctors and leaders develop "emotional chainmail"? Some ways of building ... View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Frontiers | Mental Resilience and Coping With Stress: A Comprehensive, Multi-level Model of ... View original

  Is this image relevant?

1 of 3

Top images from around the web for Elements of IIED tort

• 

  Do psychotherapists, doctors and leaders develop "emotional chainmail"? Some ways of building ... View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Frontiers | Mental Resilience and Coping With Stress: A Comprehensive, Multi-level Model of ... View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Frontiers | The 4Ds of Dealing With Distress – Distract, Dilute, Develop, and Discover: An Ultra ... View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Do psychotherapists, doctors and leaders develop "emotional chainmail"? Some ways of building ... View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Frontiers | Mental Resilience and Coping With Stress: A Comprehensive, Multi-level Model of ... View original

  Is this image relevant?

1 of 3

• Allows recovery for severe emotional distress caused by another's extreme and outrageous conduct
• Defendant's conduct was extreme and outrageous beyond all possible bounds of decency
• Defendant acted with intent or recklessness to cause severe emotional distress
• Defendant's conduct caused the plaintiff to suffer severe emotional distress
• Not limited to physical injuries or threats of physical harm (verbal abuse, harassment)
• Recognized as an independent tort in most jurisdictions separate from other torts (assault, battery)

Extreme and outrageous conduct requirement

• Conduct must go beyond mere insults, indignities, or annoyances that are part of everyday life
• So outrageous in character and extreme in degree as to exceed all bounds of decency tolerated by society
• Factors considered in determining if conduct is extreme and outrageous:
  • Abuse of a position of power or authority over the plaintiff (employer-employee, landlord-tenant)
  • Taking advantage of a particularly vulnerable plaintiff (elderly, disabled, children)
  • Repeated or prolonged nature of the conduct rather than a single incident
• Offensive or insulting language alone is not sufficient without more aggravating factors

Severity of emotional distress

• Plaintiff must suffer severe emotional distress beyond what a reasonable person could be expected to endure
• Factors considered in determining severity of emotional distress:
  • Intensity and duration of the distress (debilitating, long-lasting effects)
  • Physical manifestations of the distress that required medical treatment or inability to work
  • Whether a reasonable person would have suffered severe distress under the same circumstances
• Trivial or temporary emotional distress (annoyance, embarrassment) is not sufficient for an IIED claim

Intent in IIED cases

• Defendant must have acted with intent or recklessness, more culpable than mere negligence
• Intent requires that the defendant either:
  1. Desired to inflict severe emotional distress on the plaintiff, or
  2. Knew with substantial certainty that severe distress would result from their conduct
• Recklessness requires the defendant acted with deliberate disregard for the high probability of causing distress
• Transferred intent may apply, where intent to cause distress to one person transfers to another who suffers
• Specific intent to cause distress is not required if defendant knew it was substantially certain to occur