Batson v. Shiflett3/12/1992
rue or not. The trial judge cautioned the jury that, if they found evidence of ill will, hatred or spite, such evidence could only be considered for the purposes of whether the defamatory statements at issue were made by petitioners knowing they were false or with reckless disregard.
Based on the court's clear actual malice instructions, the jury's finding of defamation conclusively demonstrated a finding of actual malice. As we stated in IBEW, Local 1805 v. Mayo, 281 Md. 475, 379 A.2d 1223 (1977):
"Consequently, even assuming that the trial court failed to instruct the jury with the necessary precision that a qualified privilege existed as a matter of law, appellant suffered no harm, since the verdict reflected a finding that appellee defeated the privilege, in any event, by proving knowing falsity or reckless disregard of truth."
Id. at 481, 379 A.2d at 1226. Under these circumstances, the erroneous instruction is harmless. Petitioners did not suffer any prejudice since the erroneous instruction on conditional privilege could not have had any influence on
the outcome of the case. See generally Harris v. Harris, 310 Md. 310, 319, 529 A.2d 356, 360 (1987).
V.
To establish a cause of action for intentional infliction of emotional distress, four essential elements are necessary:
"(1) The conduct must be intentional or reckless;
(2) The conduct must be extreme and outrageous;
(3) There must be a causal connection between the wrongful conduct and the emotional distress;
(4) The emotional distress must be severe."
Harris v. Jones, 281 Md. 560, 566, 380 A.2d 611, 614 (1977). All four elements must be shown. Hamilton v. Ford Motor Credit Co., 66 Md. App. 46, 58, 502 A.2d 1057, 1063, cert. denied, 306 Md. 118, 507 A.2d 631 (1986). We have acknowledged that "' n developing the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress, whatever the relationship between the parties, recovery will be meted out sparingly, its balm reserved for those wounds that are truly severe and incapable of healing themselves.'" Figueiredo-Torres v. Nickel, 321 Md. 642, 653, 584 A.2d 69, 75 (1991) (quoting Hamilton, 66 Md. App. at 61, 502 A.2d at 1065).
For conduct to meet the test of "outrageousness," it must be "so extreme in degree, as to go beyond all possible bounds of decency, and to be regarded as atrocious, and utterly intolerable in a civilized community." Harris, 281 Md. at 567, 380 A.2d at 614 (quoting Restatement (Second) of Torts § 46 comment d (1965)). Whether the conduct complained of meets this test is, in the first instance, for the court to determine; in addressing that question, the court must consider not only the conduct itself but also the "personality of the individual to whom the misconduct is directed." Harris, 281 Md. at 568, 380 A.2d at 615. This high standard of culpability exists to screen out claims amounting to "mere insults, indignities, threats, annoyances, petty oppressions, or other trivialities" that simply must be endured as part of life. Id. at 567, 380 A.2d at 614
(quoting Restatement (Second) of Torts § 46, comment d (1965)). With these qualifications firmly in mind, we consider petitioners' argument that the evidence is insufficient to prove the element
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