EMOTIONAL DISTRESS

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress

The word tort - derived from the Latin word that translates to "twisted or wrong" and is used in legal issues to refer to a civil wrong. A tort differs from a criminal act in the sense that criminal acts routinely committed against the state, and a tort is a wrong committed against an individual.

The legal dictionary (2011) defines Tort law as "A body of rights, obligations, and remedies that are applied by courts in civil proceedings to provide relief for persons who have suffered harm from the wrongful acts of others." Some of the wrongs covered under tort law include either physical or psychological distress, damage to quality of life, incapacitation to earn a living, loss of companionship, medical expenses and attorney costs. The losses covered can be present and ones expected in the future. The law of torts derived from a combination of common-law principles and legislative enactments, and is normally found in regional, state, and national civil codes where the limits on damages and the statute of limitations for tort cases are detailed. The law of torts classified into three core classes: intended torts, negligent torts and strict liability torts.

The aspect of intent qualified in a situation where the defendant is shown. It acted in a manner resulting in harm to the plaintiff being substantially certain that such consequences would follow. Among the examples of torts that fall under this category are trespass on property, invasion of privacy, fraud, battery, assault, false imprisonment and defamation. However, sometimes situations may arise where harm to others outweighed by other vital interests that upheld by the law thus certain conducts not being termed intentional torts. Injuring another person in order to protect one is one such example.

The tort was initially questioned with Pugh vs. London etc. RailRoad Co., but was formally coined with Wilkon vs. Downton. The case actually came into existence when the wife of Mr.Wilkon was pranked by Downton, resulting in severe permanent injuries, such as weakening of the immune system, hair turning white, etc. Although the patient had no medical history of any disorder or ailment, it was this particular scenario that impacted the routine functioning of the patient to break down. This caused several problems to the patient and to Mr.Wilkon in regards to medical expenses.

To begin describing, as already stated, intentional infliction has had a rather difficult journey having itself acknowledged as a legal facet of the English Law. The intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED) has been defined as a tort that caters to any conduct done intentionally, which resulted in the substantial emotional stress to the victim.

To begin understanding the law itself, there are four basic components of IIED. These are:

Defendant acted intentionally or recklessly;

Defendant's conduct was extreme and outrageous;

Defendant's act is the cause of the distress;

Plaintiff suffers severe emotional distress as a result of defendant's conduct.

While the origins of the tort of emotional distress dated almost two hundred ...