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Dunlea v. Dappen9/19/1996
mment d.
Ross, 76 Hawai'i at 465 n.12, 879 P.2d at 1048 n.12.
Dunlea points to no evidence in the record that Dappen's statement to Jacobs was "outrageous," or that Dappen should have recognized that his statement to Jacobs would cause Dunlea illness or injury . Dappen expressed his own feelings to a close family member in the privacy of his home. We therefore hold that Dappen's statement to Jacobs was not so unreasonable or outrageous as to give rise to a cause of action for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Because the statement to Jacobs was not actionable, we also hold that Dappen's statement was not made actionable by the fact that he repeated it to Dunlea, in direct response to Dunlea's inquiry. Consequently, Dappen's motion for summary judgment on Count II of Dunlea's complaint was properly granted.
C. Discovery on Remand
In a reprise of her motion to compel deposition testimony, Dunlea raises a plethora of discovery issues on appeal. Essentially, she asserts that defense counsel's instructions to Dappen, during deposition, not to answer questions regarding the CSA claim were improper, notwithstanding that the CSA claim had been dismissed. The trial court dismissed the motion to compel as moot when it granted Dappen's motion for summary judgment on Counts I and II of Dunlea's complaint. However, because we are remanding this case for further proceedings with respect to Dunlea's CSA claim, we anticipate that further discovery pertinent to that claim will be required. Any relevance objections to questions regarding the CSA claim are now moot. During the anticipated further discovery on remand, refusal to answer such questions may be appropriately dealt with by a motion to compel.
III. Conclusion
Based on the foregoing, we: (1) affirm the grant of summary judgment in favor of Dappen on count I (defamation) and count II (negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress); (2) vacate the circuit court's dismissal of count III (CSA claim); and (3) remand this case for trial on Dunlea's claim of CSA.
Ronald T.Y. Moon
Robert G. Klein
Steven H. Levinson
Paula A. Nakayama
Mario R. Ramil
Disposition
Affirmed, Vacated and Remanded
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