Greer v. Medders, 71069
| Decision Date | 11 October 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 71069,71069 |
| Citation | 336 S.E.2d 328,176 Ga.App. 408 |
| Parties | GREER et al. v. MEDDERS. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Charles E. Day, Monroe, for appellants.
Weymon H. Forrester, James E. Brim III, Gainesville, for appellee.
This is an appeal from a grant of summary judgment to the defendant, Dr. Lawrence Medders, in an action by plaintiffs James and Lisa Greer to recover damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The Greers' deposition testimony would support the following evidentiary conclusions. While Mr. Greer was in the hospital recovering from surgery on his heel, his attending physician departed on a brief vacation, during which it was arranged that Dr. Medders would attend to him. Because Dr. Medders had failed to visit him for several days, Greer called his office to complain. Sometime thereafter, Dr. Medders entered Greer's room and, in an agitated manner, made the following statements in the presence of both Mrs. Greer and a hospital nurse: "Let me tell you one damn thing, don't nobody call over to my office raising hell with my secretary ... I don't have to be in here every damn day checking on you because I check with physical therapy ... I don't have to be your damn doctor." Mrs. Greer at this point interjected that Dr. Medders need not worry, that he would no longer be her husband's doctor, whereupon Dr. Medders stated: "If your smart ass wife would keep her mouth shut things wouldn't be so bad." Dr. Medders then instructed the nurse to run a culture on Mr. Greer's heel, made some notes on a pad, and left the room. Following this incident, Mrs. Greer began to cry, and Mr. Greer experienced episodes of uncontrollable shaking, for which he required psychiatric treatment. Dr. Medders presented no evidence in support of his motion for summary judgment. Held:
For conduct which is of an outrageous or egregious nature or so terrifying or insulting as to humiliate, embarrass, or frighten the plaintiff, Georgia recognizes the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress. See generally Sossenko v. Michelin Tire Corp., 172 Ga.App. 771, 324 S.E.2d 593 (1984); Ga. Power Co. v. Johnson, 155 Ga.App. 862(2), 274 S.E.2d 17 (1980); Stephens v. Waits, 53 Ga.App. 44, 184 S.E. 781 (1936); Dunn v. Western Union Tel. Co., 2 Ga.App. 845, 59 S.E. 189 (1907). ...
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Sweeney v. Athens Regional Medical Center
...Moses v. Prudential Ins. Co. of America, 187 Ga.App. 222, 224-25, 369 S.E.2d 541, 542 (1988); see e.g., Greer v. Medders, 176 Ga.App. 408, 409, 336 S.E.2d 328, 329 (1985). In other words, "the conduct must be of such serious import as to naturally give rise to such intense feelings of humil......
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Thompson v. John L. Williams Co., Inc.
...fifty dollars ($4,150.00).3 10. "Georgia recognizes the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress." Greer v. Medders, 176 Ga.App. 408, 409, 336 S.E.2d 328, 329 (1985). In Georgia, this tort has been construed narrowly. Stamps v. Ford Motor Co., 650 F.Supp. 390, 401 (N.D.Ga.1986).......
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Sweeney v. Athens Regional Medical Center
...or egregious nature or so terrifying or insulting as to humiliate, embarrass, or frighten the plaintiff." Greer v. Medders, 176 Ga.App. 408, 409, 336 S.E.2d 328, 329 (1985); see e.g., Stamps v. Ford Motor Co., 650 F.Supp. 390, 401 (N.D.Ga.1986), quoting Georgia Power Co. v. Johnson, 155 Ga.......
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S & W Seafoods Co. v. Jacor Broadcasting of Atlanta
...of law, rise to the requisite level of outrageousness and egregiousness." Id. at 225-6, 369 S.E.2d 541. Compare Greer v. Medders, 176 Ga.App. 408, 336 S.E.2d 328 (1985). In contrast to the statements in Moses, supra, the statements at issue here were not mere warnings left on an answering m......