From Justice Lawrence's opinion in Herbert v. Herbert, decided in April 2023, but only recently posted on Westlaw:
In the complaint's first count, Mark asserted a claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress. In the complaint Mark stated, "On or about November 7, 2018, without any notice or warning whatsoever, the [d]efendant left the parties' marriage." Mark alleges that despite his efforts at "reconciliation," Nina has "refused all communication." The complaint continued that since November 7, 2018, the defendant engaged in "numerous intentional actions or communications" that caused "severe emotional distress to the [p]laintiff." …
{In Mark's affidavit attached to his response in opposition to summary judgment, he alleged the following testimony as further "examples of facts" that support his claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress, verbal assault, fraudulent misrepresentation, and defamation and slander: "When I called to tell [Nina] that my mother, to whom she was close, had died unexpectedly, she offered no sympathy, but yelled repeatedly and loudly that I had been mean to her and refused to come to [my mother's] funeral because [Nina] was not my wife. We were still married at the time." Nina "intentionally email[ed] me a photograph of my being charged with a BUI," "scream[ed] out in front of gathered people that [I] was a 'motherf*****' and flipped [me] the middle finger," "l[ied] to me [concerning] where she was on November 9, 2018," and "[o]n November 14-18, 2018, remov[ed] property from the couple's joint storage unit and empt[ied] [the] marital home."} …
To prevail on a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress, a plaintiff must prove
[(1)] [t]he defendant acted willfully or wantonly towards the plaintiff by committing certain described actions; [(2)] the defendant's acts are ones "which evoke outrage or revulsion in civilized society"; [(3)] the acts were directed at, or intended to cause harm to, the plaintiff; [(4)] the plaintiff "suffered severe emotional distress as a direct result of the acts of the defendant"; and [(5)] "such resulting emotional distress was foreseeable from the intentional acts of the defendant."
