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Nelson v. University of Hawaii12/11/2001
een that someone in Plaintiff's position would have suffered serious mental distress because of their actions. "Serious mental distress" is found where a reasonable person, normally constituted, would be unable to adequately cope with the mental stress caused by the circumstances of the case. If you find by a preponderance of the evidence that a reasonable person, normally constituted, would have been unable to adequately cope with the mental stress caused by the conduct of Defendants, and that a reasonable person in Defendants' position should have foreseen this, then you may award Plaintiff damages for negligent infliction of emotional distress.
Defendants' Requested Instruction No. 19. (Footnote omitted.) Based on the evidence presented at trial, see discussion supra, there was substantial evidence, when viewed in the light most favorable to Nelson, to support a finding that she suffered serious mental distress as a result of Defendants' conduct and that such distress was foreseeable. Thus, there was substantial evidence to support the jury's verdict in favor of Nelson on her claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress. See Carr, 79 Hawaii at 486, 904 P.2d at 500. Accordingly, the trial court erred in granting Defendants' motion for JNOV.
III. CONCLUSION
Based on the foregoing, we hold that (1) the trial court abused its discretion in excluding Nelson's proffered rebuttal evidence of her publications, and the exclusion of such evidence resulted in substantial prejudice to Nelson's claims for employment discrimination and negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress; (2) the trial court's jury instruction with respect to sexual harassment (instruction No. 9) was prejudicially erroneous and misleading; and (3) the trial court erred in granting Defendants' motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. Therefore, we vacate the judgment of the circuit court and remand this case for a new trial with respect to Nelson's claims of employment discrimination and negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress only.
On the briefs:
DISSENTING OPINION BY RAMIL, J.
I write to state my position regarding the elements of a sexual harassment claim. Because I believe the trial court correctly stated the elements of a sexual harassment claim, I would hold that the jury instruction -- consistent with the "totality of the circumstances" analysis -- was a proper statement of the law. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.
I.
The majority proposes, in my view, an additional separate element to a hostile environment sexual harassment (HESH) claim by requiring a plaintiff to show that the alleged sexual conduct either (a) unreasonably interfered with work performance or (b) created an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. Majority at 32. In doing so, it rejects --as do I -- the requirement that a plaintiff prove both (a) and (b). But the majority overlooks another, more reasonable alternative: courts should examine the totality of the circumstances, using (a) and (b) as factors, to determine whether the conduct is sufficiently "severe or pervasive" to qualify as a HESH claim. In other words, (a) or (b) are not additional separate alternative elements of a HESH claim. In my view, (a) and (b) are merely two of the many circumstances within "the totality of the circumstances" that may be considered in evaluating the "severe or pervasive" element of a HESH claim. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent from the majority's "separate element/ alternative means" approach in favor of the "totality of the circumstances" approach.
II.
The "totality of the circumstances
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