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Cochran v. Columbia Gas of Ohio9/26/2000
llant's emotional distress claim. Although appellee urges this court to affirm, it agrees that the trial court applied the wrong legal standard.
To establish a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress, the plaintiff must prove the following four elements by a preponderance of the evidence:
* a) hat the actor either intended to cause emotional distress or knew or should have known that the actions taken would result in serious emotional distress to the plaintiff; b) that the actor's conduct was extreme and outrageous, that it went beyond all possible bounds of decency and that it can be considered as utterly intolerable in a civilized community; c) that the actor's actions were the proximate cause of the plaintiff's psychic injury; and d) that the mental anguish suffered by plaintiff is serious and of a nature that no reasonable person could endure it. [Pyle v. Pyle (1983), 11 Ohio App.3d 31, paragraph two of the syllabus.]
The trial court erroneously required appellant to establish each element of his claim by clear and convincing evidence. The clear and convincing standard enunciated in R.C. 2745.01 and applied by the trial court in the instant action was declared unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court in Johnson v. BP Chemicals, Inc. (1999), 85 Ohio St.3d 298, 308. Accordingly, appellant's third assignment of error is sustained insofar as it properly alleges that the trial court applied the wrong legal standard. Appellant's emotional distress claim is remanded in order for the trial court "to conduct a conscientious examination of the record to determine whether summary judgment is appropriate" under the proper legal standard. See Murphy v. Reynoldsburg (1992), 65 Ohio St.3d 356, 360.
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas is affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for proceedings consistent with this decision.
Judgment affirmed in part, reversed in part, and cause remanded.
BROWN and McCORMAC, JJ., concur.
McCORMAC, J., retired, of the Tenth Appellate District, assigned to active duty under authority of Section 6(C), Article IV, Ohio Constitution.
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