- Published: November 15, 2021
- Updated: November 15, 2021
- University / College: Johns Hopkins University
- Language: English
- Downloads: 33
The statements were alleged to be false and the judge considered them to be communicated “ with a purpose and intent to shame her.” The judge found that the plaintiff had a cause of action and called for further proceedings. In Dominguez, the defendant, an insurance agent, made false claims about the patient’s ability to remain on insurance in order to get the patient to abandon their coverage, and the false statements were considered to be potentially outrageous enough for the court to reverse a dismissal for lack of cause of action. The content of Winston’s statements to Rosaline Daniels during the March 15 and 16 practice sessions is likely to meet the “ outrageousness” standard. Firstly, the remarks do cause her fellow classmates to describe the conduct as shocking when they email her later explaining that Winston “ seemed to kind of lose it” and “ it’s totally understandable you’re upset.” This could be considered to satisfy the threshold test from McAlpin. While his early comments during the beginning of the speech- “ Stop! What kind of opening is that?” and “ You should spend less time apologizing and more time not screwing up,” could be considered to be similar to the comments in Slocum in that while they aren’t gentle, they are not personalized and were more likely intended to help her performance overall rather than cause distress. The comments later in her speech, such as “ who the hell do you think you are? You’re clearly severely incompetent…. Are you going to play the island girl card? Do you think anyone cared whether you guys would drown?” are more personalized to Daniels’ background as a Haitian immigrant, similarly to the comments in Korbin, where the comments were made directly at the child about the mother with an intent to shame the child. Unlike in Dominguez, none of Mr. Daniels’ statements can be verified to be false. A jury would need to determine whether the statements Winston made, such as “ you’re an idiot” and implying that she is the worst student in the class, were inaccurate. If they were inaccurate, the falsehoods would also increase the likelihood that the content was outrageous. The content of Mr. Winston’s statements will help Daniels’ case for outrageousness due to their personalized content which appears intended to cause distress and potential falsehoods.