Lead Opinion
[¶ 1] Bаrbara Curtis appeals from the judgment of the Superior Court (Kennebec County, Atwood, J.) granting Lisa Gagne’s
I. BACKGROUND
[¶ 2] Barbara Curtis is employed as a pizza delivery agent for Domino’s Pizza. During one late-night delivery, she was lured to an empty house where she was assaulted and robbed. Curtis suffered serious injury to her face as a result of the assault. Alan Porter, then twenty-one, and Ryan Fifield, a juvenile, were later arrested for attacking and robbing Curtis. Porter ultimately pled guilty to aggravated assault and robbery and was incarcerated.
[¶ 3] The nature of Gagne’s involvement in the robbery, if any, is disputed by the parties. Because this matter is before us as the result of the entry of a summary judgment, we consider only the facts recited and properly supported in the parties’ statements of material facts. In the early evening hours of a summer night in 1995, Gagne, Porter, and Fifield began drinking malt liquor and beer at Gagne’s house. By midnight, they were drunk and hungry. Porter called Domino’s from Gagne’s kitchen phone and ordered a pizza to be delivered to a different address, 15 Kendall Street in Augusta. The Kendall Street house, formerly owned by Gagne’s grandmother, was vacant at the time.
[¶4] Shortly thereafter, Curtis arrived at 15 Kendall Street to deliver the pizza. She rang the doorbell, but no one answered. Porter and Fifield then emerged from behind the house and said that they had ordered the pizza. When Curtis looked down to check the price on the pizza box, Porter hit her in the face and knocked her down. She heard shuffling and heard Porter run away as she lay on the ground bleeding and afraid to get up. Porter and Fifield ran back to Gagne’s house with the stolen pizza and told Gagne to shut off the lights in the house. Gagne told Porter to throw the pizza boxes into the river, which he did. Later, Gagne lied to the police about several aspects of the events, asserting that Porter had nothing to do with this incident, that the incident never happened, that Porter was at home with her all night, that Porter would nоt do something like that, and that they did not order pizza.
[¶ 5] Three years later, Curtis filed her complaint against Gagne, Porter, and Fi-field alleging assault, battery, robbery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Because the applicable statute of limitations bars recovery more than two years after an assault or battery, 14 M.R.S.A. § 753 (Supp.2000), and because Maine does not recognize a separate civil action for robbery, Curtis filed an amended cоmplaint abandoning these three claims. In the amended complaint, Curtis asserted claims for both negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress,
II. DISCUSSION
[¶ 6] We review motions for summary judgment for errors of law, viewing the evidence in the light most favorablе to the nonprevailing party — in this case, Curtis— to determine whether the record supports the conclusion that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the prevailing party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Champagne v. Mid-Maine Med. Ctr.,
[¶ 7] Summary judgment is no longer an extreme remedy.
[¶ 8] When, as here, a defendant moves for summary judgment, the plaintiff “must establish a prima facie case for each element of her cause of action” that is properly challenged in the defendant’s motion. Champagne,
[¶ 9] In addition to the specific facts set forth by the parties, we will consider any reasonable inferences that a fact-finder could draw from the given facts. Hughes v. Beta Upsilon Bldg. Ass’n,
III. INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS
[¶ 10] To withstand a defendant’s motion for summary judgment on a claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress, a plaintiff must present facts in support of each of the following four elements:
(1) the defendant intentionally or recklessly inflicted severe emotional distress or wаs certain or substantially certain that such distress would result from her conduct;
(2) the conduct was so “extreme and outrageous as to exceed all possible bounds of decency and must be regarded as atrocious, utterly intolerable in a civilized community”;
(3) the actions of the defendant caused the plaintiffs emotional distress; and
*23 (4) the emotional distress suffered by the plaintiff was “so severe that no reasonable [person] could be expected to endure it.”
Champagne,
[¶ 11] Gagne does not dispute that Curtis suffered severe emotional distress as a result of the incident and that no reasonable person could be expected to endure such distress. Rather, she argues, and the court agreed, that Curtis has failed to establish a prima facie case regarding the first three elements of IIED. Primarily, she contends that her limited role, if any, in the assault and robbery could not have caused Curtis’s emotional distress, that her conduct was not outrageous, and that it does not rise to the level of intentional or reckless behavior.
[¶ 12] In the context of a tort claim, a person acts “intentionally” if he subjectively wants or subjectively foresees that harm to another will almost certainly result from his actions. Maine Mut Fire Ins. Co. v. Gervais,
[¶ 13] The same is not true, however, for the recklessness component of the claim. A person acts recklessly if she knows or should know that her conduct creates an unreasonable risk of harm to another person and the unreasonableness of her actions exceeds negligence.
[¶ 14] The issue then becomes whether Curtis has generated a material fаct in support of her claim that Gagne took part in planning the robbery. The Superior Court concluded that a fact-finder would have to engage in pure speculation to determine whether Gagne was actually involved in the planning. Curtis concedes the paucity of facts directly demonstrating Gagne’s involvement, but argues that the facts would support a reasonable inference that Gagne knowingly participated in the plan for the robbery, thereby intentionally or recklessly causing
[¶ 15] We conclude that the facts presented are sufficient to allow a jury to infer that Gagne was an active participant in the robbery.
[¶ 16] Thus, on the facts presented, Curtis has made out a prima facie case for each element of her claim:
(1) by plаnning and setting up the theft, Gagne recklessly inflicted severe emotional distress;
(2) the conduct of setting up a nighttime robbery of a delivery person is so “extreme and outrageous as to exceed all possible bounds of decency and must be regarded as atrocious, and utterly intolerable in a civilized community”;
(3) Gagne’s actions' in setting up the theft were a cause of Curtis’s emotional distress; and
(4) the emotional distress suffered by Curtis was so severe that no reasonable person could be expected to endure it.
See Champagne,
IV. NEGLIGENT INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS
[¶ 17] Contrary to Curtis’s argument, however, the conclusion that Gagne may have engaged in the intentional infliction of emotional distress does not lead to
[¶ 18] Part of the confusion regarding claims of neghgent infliction arises from the fact that the elements of a claim of neghgent infliction of emotional distress are similar to most negligence torts: a plaintiff must set forth facts from which it could be concluded that (1) the defendant owed a duty to the plaintiff; (2) the defendant breached that duty; (8) the plaintiff was harmed; and (4) the breach caused the plaintiffs harm. Devine v. Roche Biomed. Labs., Inc.,
[¶ 19] Nevertheless, we have recognized a duty to act reasonably to avoid emotional harm to othеrs in very limited circumstances: first, in claims commonly referred to as bystander liability actions;
[¶ 20] Moreover, a negligent infliction claim requires proof of severe emotional distress, an element of damages that is not ordinarily required when the separate tort (except intentional infliction of emotional distress) provides for recovery for emotional damages. Therefore, although negligent infliction claims are now routinely added to complaints stating a cause of action in tort, this practice is rarely necessary unless the claim is made by a bystander or against one with a special relationship to the plaintiff.
[¶ 21] Here, Curtis has not demonstrated the existence of a duty sufficient to make out a claim of negligent infliction of emotional distress. First, although Curtis originally asserted the existence of a special relationship between herself and Gagne, she no longer presses the claim that a special relationship exists between a customer and a pizza delivery person.
[¶22] And finally, the creation of the danger, that is, the separate tortious conduct, is set forth in her claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress. See supra note 11. Curtis may rеcover her emotional distress damages through that claim. She cannot, however, in the absence of a special relationship or a claim of bystander liability, press her claim to recover for her emotional distress if she does not prevail on the separate intentional infliction claim. Thus, her negligent infliction claim is subsumed in the intentional infliction claim, and the court appropriately granted summary judgment on that claim.
V. AGENCY
[¶ 23] Finally, Curtis asserts that, because Fifield and Porter were acting as Gagne’s agents, Gagne is responsible for their actions. We agree with the Superior Court that Curtis has offered no evidence from which a fact-finder could conclude that a principal-agent relationship existed between Gagne and Porter.
The entry is:
Judgment vacated on Curtis’s claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress. Judgment affirmed on her claim of negligent infliction of emotional distress, agency, and her request for punitive damages.
CLIFFORD, J., files a dissenting opinion with whom RUDMAN, J. joins.
Notes
.Although Gagne is now known as Lisa Gagne Porter, she will be referred to as "Gagne” because Gagne was her last name at the time of these events, and also to differentiate her from Allen Porter, a co-defendant, whom she married after these alleged events occurred.
. The record does not reflect the specifics of Porter’s sentence.
. Gagne owns the house and began residing therе subsequent to the incident. Gagne may have owned the house at the time of the incident, but was not aware of that fact at the time.
. There is some dispute over whether this statement is admissible. We do not need to determine its admissibility at this time; we need only determine that there is a reasonable likelihood that the statement would be admitted at trial. The unsworn statement of Fifield that included this remark by Gagne could be admitted as a past recollection recоrded, to refresh his recollection, or to impeach with a prior inconsistent statement if Fifield testifies and gives a different version of the facts at trial. See M.R. Evid. 612, 801, 803.
. Gagne does not contend that the statute of limitations bars recovery for the IIED and NIED claims arising out of the same operative facts as the torts that are now time barred.
. Curtis also sought punitive damages in her complaint. Apparently recognizing the absence of facts directly connecting Gagne to the assault, however, Curtis’s appeal does not address the elements necessary for a claim for punitive damages. Thus, we do not disturb the judgment on this issue.
. "Summary judgment procedure is properly regarded not as a disfavored procedural shortcut, but rather as an integral part of the Federal Rules as a whole, which are designed
. Effective January 1, 2001, M.R. Civ. P. 7(d)(1) was amended and incorporated into M.R. Civ. P. 56(h). See Schindler v. Nilsen,
. We first recognized in 1979 that a defendant may be liable for intentionally or recklessly inflicting emotional distress on a plaintiff. Vicnire v. Ford Motor Credit Co.,
. The Restatement defines “reckless” in the following manner:
The actor’s conduct is in reckless disregard of the safety of another if he does an act or intentionally fails to do an act which it is his duty to the other to do, knowing or having reason to know of facts which would lead a reasonable [person] to realize, not only that his conduct creates an unreasonable risk of physical harm to another, but also that such risk is substantially greater than that which is necessary to make his conduct negligent.
Restatement (Second) of Torts § 500 (1965).
. See, e.g., Bryan R. v. Watchtower Bible and Tract Soc’y of NY, Inc.,
. It is on this narrow point that we part company with the Superior Court. The court concluded that "Gagne might have had reason to suspect her boyfriend might steal a pizza from a delivery person, but did not assist in this endeavor nor play any role in carrying it out ...(Emphasis added.) We have determined from the facts before us that a fact-finder would not be engaging in pure speculation in order to conclude to the contrary.
. Cf. State v. Flint H.,
. Many jurisdictions, as a general rule, decline to recognize a claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress absent a separate tort or evidence of actual physical injury resulting from the distress. See, e.g., Doe v. Southeastern Univ.,
. The determination of duty is a matter of law to be decided by the court. Bryan R.,
. See Culbert v. Sampson's Supermarkets Inc.,
. See Rowe v. Bennett,
. At oral argument, Curtis conceded that no special relationship exists between herself and Gagne.
. "Agency is the fiduciary relation which results from the manifestation of consent by one person to another that the other shall act on his behalf and subject to his control, and consent by the other so to act.” RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF AGENCY § 1(1) (1958); accord Perry v. H.O. Perry & Son Co., 1998 ME 131, ¶ 7,
Dissenting Opinion
with whom RUDMAN, J. joins, dissenting.
[¶ 24] Because, in my view, the Superior Court properly analyzed the facts in the statements of material facts and correctly entered summary judgment for Gagne on Curtis’s claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress, I respectfully dissent.
[¶ 25] Althоugh there is evidence from which a jury could infer that Gagne had some knowledge that Porter and Fifield were contemplating a theft of pizza, in my view there is nothing to point to Gagne’s participation in any planning of the theft. Moreover, Curtis’s emotional distress was caused not by the theft of the pizza, but by the assault that was committed by Alan Porter, an action that was not foreseen even by Ryan Fifield, who participated in the theft with Porter.
[¶ 26] In my view, Curtis has failed to present sufficient evidence from which, without engaging in speculation, a jury could rationally infer that Gagne was “substantially certain that [Curtis’s severe emotional] distress would result from [Gagne’s] conduct” or that Gagne’s conduct was so “extreme or outrageous as to exceed all possible bounds of decency and must be regarded as atrocious, utterly intolerable in a civilized community,” or that her actions “caused [Curtis] severe emotional distress.” Champagne v. Mid-Maine Med. Ctr.,
[¶ 27] I would affirm the Superior Court’s judgment in full.
