California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Christensen v. Superior Court, 2 Cal.Rptr.2d 79, 54 Cal.3d 868, 820 P.2d 181 (Cal. 1991):
The elements of the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress are: " '(1) extreme and outrageous conduct by the defendant with the intention of causing, or reckless disregard of the probability of causing, emotional distress; (2) the plaintiff's suffering severe or extreme emotional distress; and (3) actual and proximate causation of the emotional distress by the defendant's outrageous conduct....' Conduct to be outrageous must be so extreme as to exceed all bounds of that usually tolerated in a civilized community." (Davidson v. City of Westminster (1982) 32 Cal.3d 197, 209, 185 Cal.Rptr. 252, 649 P.2d 894.) The defendant must have engaged in "conduct intended to inflict injury or engaged in with the realization that injury will result." (Id. at p. 210, 185 Cal.Rptr. 252, 649 P.2d 894.)
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