Another interesting twist from the Keisel v. Westbrook Utah Court of Appeals decision that I discuss in a separate post that deals with a libel lawsuit based on some follow-up statements:
In March 2019, the Utah Jazz were playing a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Midway through the second quarter, Russell Westbrook, the Thunder's point guard at the time, had a verbal altercation with Shane Keisel, a Jazz fan who was sitting next to his girlfriend Jennifer Huff just a few rows up from the court. In the initial moments of this altercation, Keisel said something to Westbrook that included the phrase "on your knees." … [In response], Westbrook shouted: "I swear to God, I'll fuck you up, you and your wife, I'll fuck you up, … I promise you on everything I love, on everything I love, I promise you." …
"Due to the highly subjective and volatile nature of emotional distress and the variability of its causations, the courts have historically been wary of dangers in opening the door to recovery therefor." On an intentional infliction of emotional distress claim, our courts thus require a plaintiff to demonstrate:
(a) that a defendant intentionally engaged in some conduct toward the plaintiff considered outrageous and intolerable in that it offends the generally accepted standards of decency and morality; (b) with the purpose of inflicting emotional distress or where any reasonable person would have known that such would result; and (c) that severe emotional distress resulted as a direct consequence of the defendant's conduct.
And to sustain such a claim, "a defendant's alleged conduct must be more than unreasonable, unkind, or unfair, it must instead be so severe as to evoke outrage or revulsion."
