Also known as:severe emotional distress · emotional distress
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Severe mental anguish or suffering that exceeds ordinary emotional upset and is of a nature that a reasonable person would regard as substantial. It forms a required element of intentional infliction of emotional distress when caused by extreme and outrageous conduct. The distress must be shown through evidence of intensity and duration rather than transient upset.
Sources & Authorities· 4 primary sources
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Cases
Statutes
Restatements
Casebooks
How it applies
Common Examples
6
Manager's False Arrest Threats
Loss-prevention manager Daniel Ortiz confined seventeen-year-old cashier Serena Soto in a back room for hours and repeatedly told her that police would arrest her for theft and that she might not survive prison. Soto began hyperventilating and begged to call her mother, yet Ortiz continued. She later suffered panic attacks requiring hospitalization. The conduct meets the threshold for serious emotional distress because the prolonged false threats produced medically significant symptoms that a jury could find substantial.
Funeral Protest Signs
Members of a church group picketed a military funeral on public land with signs expressing political and moral views about government policy and homosexuality. The signs caused family members including Solomon Silver intense grief and lasting emotional pain. Because the speech addressed matters of public concern and occurred peacefully without additional unprotected conduct, no tort liability arises even though the signs produced serious emotional distress.
Public Accusation of Theft
Executive director Nora publicly accused caseworker Lena of stealing donor files and threatened to post her photo as a thief in a crowded shelter. Lena's brother Simon Stern witnessed the outburst and suffered recurrent panic-triggered asthma attacks. Stern was present when the conduct occurred and his resulting emotional distress produced bodily harm, satisfying the requirements for recovery as a bystander.
Wrench-Throwing Incident
Laborer Luis hurled a metal wrench at coworker Sierra Santos's head from a scaffold during a dispute. The wrench missed and landed several feet behind her. Santos never saw or heard the throw because she wore ear protection and faced away. Although Luis committed an intentional tort aimed at bodily harm, Santos cannot recover for any resulting emotional distress because that distress is the only legal consequence of the conduct.
Car Accident Victim Damages
Driver Samantha Stone suffered a broken leg and ongoing anxiety after a collision caused by another motorist. In her personal-injury action she seeks compensation for both the physical injury and the emotional distress that accompanied it. The emotional distress qualifies as a recoverable element of damages because it arose directly from the bodily harm inflicted by the tortious conduct.
Murder Defense Strategy
After discovering his spouse with another person, Scott Summers killed the other person hours later. At trial Summers seeks to introduce evidence of his immediate and continuing emotional distress to support a claim that the killing occurred in the heat of passion. The prosecution must still prove the elements of murder beyond a reasonable doubt. The claimed distress does not shift any burden to the defense.
Patterson v. New York432 U.S. 197, 97 S.Ct. 2319, 53 L.Ed.2d 281
Common questions
Frequently Asked
5
What level of proof is required to show serious emotional distress in an IIED claim?+
The plaintiff must present evidence that the distress was severe in intensity and duration rather than fleeting upset. Medical evidence of panic attacks or hospitalization strengthens the showing but is not always required when the conduct itself is extreme.
Supporting sources
Can a bystander recover for serious emotional distress caused by conduct aimed at someone else?+
Yes when the bystander is an immediate family member present at the time or any other person present whose distress results in bodily harm. The underlying conduct must still be extreme and outrageous and directed at the third person.
Does the First Amendment bar recovery for serious emotional distress caused by offensive speech?+
Speech on matters of public concern receives special protection even when it produces severe emotional distress. Peaceful picketing accompanied by offensive signs on public land near a funeral is protected unless additional unprotected conduct occurs.
Supporting sources
Can a plaintiff recover for serious emotional distress that is the only consequence of another intentional tort?+
No. Conduct that is tortious because it intends bodily harm or invasion of another interest does not create liability when the only legal consequence is emotional distress.
Supporting sources
Is serious emotional distress recoverable as damages in a personal-injury action?+
Yes. A plaintiff whose interests of personality have been tortiously invaded may recover damages for emotional distress that accompanies bodily harm.
Supporting sources
emotional distress
and that consequently his waiver of his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights was involuntary.” Affirmation of D. Porco, Esq., Para. 7, at 5. The Supreme Court has not foreclosed the notion…
); Dennis v. Warren , 779 F. 2d 245, 248-249 (CA5 1985) (affirming award of damages for pain, suffering, humiliation, and embarrassment); Konczak v. Tyrrell , 603 F. 2d 13, 17 (CA7 1979)…
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