Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress

What Is Intentional Infliction Of Emotional Distress?

It is an intentional tort: a civil wrong based on what the defendant meant to do or consciously disregarded, as opposed to a failure to be careful. The claim protects peace of mind. A defendant can be liable even though the defendant never touched the plaintiff, and the damages can include the cost of treatment, lost income, and compensation for the suffering itself.

The same conduct often supports other claims too, such as assault, battery, or defamation, and IIED is frequently pleaded alongside them. It is not a catch-all for hurt feelings. Courts dismiss many of these claims early because the conduct alleged, even if wrong, is not extreme enough.

What Are The Elements Of Intentional Infliction Of Emotional Distress In North Carolina?

North Carolina’s pattern jury instructions require the plaintiff to prove three things by the greater weight of the evidence. First, the defendant engaged in extreme and outrageous conduct, defined as conduct that exceeds all bounds usually tolerated by decent society. Second, the conduct was intended to cause severe emotional distress, or was recklessly indifferent to the likelihood that it would. Third, the conduct in fact caused severe emotional distress.

The first element is the hardest. Whether conduct can reasonably be regarded as extreme and outrageous is initially a question of law for the judge, and only if the judge says it can does the jury decide whether it was. Insults, indignities, ordinary workplace conflict, and bad manners do not qualify. Sustained campaigns of harassment, threats of violence, and abuse of a position of power over a vulnerable person are the kinds of facts that do.

What Counts As Severe Emotional Distress Under North Carolina Law?

More than being upset. North Carolina defines severe emotional distress as an emotional or mental disorder such as neurosis, psychosis, chronic depression, phobia, or another severe and disabling condition of a type generally recognized and diagnosed by professionals trained to do so. Mere temporary fright, anxiety, disappointment, or regret is not enough.

No physical impact or physical injury has to be shown. The notes to the pattern instruction also record that medical testimony is not strictly required and that friends, family members, and others who observed the plaintiff can supply the proof. As a practical matter, though, treatment records and a diagnosis from a mental health professional are the strongest evidence, and a claim without them is difficult to win.

• Enough: diagnosed depression, post-traumatic stress, a disabling anxiety disorder or phobia.
• Not enough: embarrassment, anger, sleepless nights that pass, or general stress.
• Helpful proof: counseling and medical records, prescriptions, and testimony from people who saw the change.

How Is Intentional Infliction Different From Negligent Infliction Of Emotional Distress?

The difference is the defendant’s state of mind. Negligent infliction of emotional distress requires only that the defendant was negligent, that severe emotional distress was a reasonably foreseeable result, and that the negligence caused it. It is the claim a family member may have after witnessing a loved one’s serious injury, and North Carolina juries are told to consider how close the plaintiff was to the event, the relationship between the plaintiff and the injured person, and whether the plaintiff personally observed what happened.

The distinction matters in North Carolina because of contributory negligence. In a negligence-based claim, a defendant who proves the plaintiff’s own negligence contributed to the harm defeats the claim, with the burden on the defendant under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-139. That defense does not excuse intentional wrongdoing or willful and wanton conduct. Intentional claims can also support punitive damages under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1D-15, which requires fraud, malice, or willful or wanton conduct proved by clear and convincing evidence.

Can You Recover For Emotional Distress After A North Carolina Car Accident?

Yes, but usually not through this claim. A crash is almost always negligence, not intentional conduct. When a person is physically injured by someone else’s negligence, the emotional consequences of the injury, including anxiety, depression, and loss of enjoyment of life, are part of the pain and suffering damages in the ordinary injury claim. No separate emotional distress claim is needed.

A separate IIED claim becomes relevant in the unusual case where the conduct was deliberate, such as a driver who uses a vehicle to terrorize someone. North Carolina courts generally apply a three-year filing period to these claims, and the same advice holds: get treatment, keep records, and write down what happened while it is fresh.