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Keywords

tortplaintiffdefendantdamagestrialmotionwilldivorcealimony
tortplaintiffdefendantdamagesappealtrialmotionwill

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Vance v. Vance, 286 Md. 490, 408 A.2d 728

Facts

Muriel Vance learned after 20 years of marriage that her marriage to Dr. Arnold Vance was void because he had not divorced his first wife at the time of their marriage. They had two children together, and after Dr. Vance left Muriel for another woman, she sought alimony and child support. Dr. Vance later attempted to annul the marriage, leading Muriel to sue for emotional distress due to his negligent misrepresentation of his marital status. Evidence presented at trial indicated that Muriel suffered significant emotional distress upon learning the truth, including symptoms of depression and physical manifestations of her distress.

The relevant facts are these: Arnold Vance (Dr. Vance) and Muriel Vance (Muriel) participated in a religious marriage ceremony in Arlington, Virginia on September 29, 1956. They lived together as husband and wife for eighteen years and had two children.

Issue

The main legal issues were whether the plaintiff could recover damages for emotional distress resulting from the defendant's negligent misrepresentation and whether there was sufficient evidence to establish the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress.

We granted certiorari in this case to consider two principal issues: (1) whether, under the “physical injury” test set forth in Bowman v. Williams, 164 Md. 397, 165 A. 182 (1933) , damages were properly recovered by the plaintiff for emotional distress resulting from the defendant's negligent misrepresentation and (2) whether under the principles of Harris v. Jones, 281 Md. 560, 380 A.2d 611 (1977) , the plaintiff presented legally sufficient evidence to the jury to establish all elements of the independent tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Rule

Under Maryland law, a plaintiff can recover for emotional distress if it results in physical injury, as established in Bowman v. Williams. Additionally, for intentional infliction of emotional distress, the conduct must be intentional or reckless, extreme and outrageous, causally connected to the emotional distress, and the distress must be severe.

Under the traditional rule, formulated in the nineteenth century, courts did not recognize a duty to refrain from the negligent infliction of emotional distress and therefore recovery of damages solely for mental distress was not permitted.

Analysis

The court applied the Bowman standard, determining that the evidence was sufficient to support a jury finding that Muriel suffered physical injury as a foreseeable result of Dr. Vance's negligent misrepresentation. The court noted that Muriel's emotional distress manifested in physical symptoms, which met the criteria for recovery. However, the court found that there was no evidence that Dr. Vance's conduct was intentional or reckless at the time of the marriage, thus failing to establish the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The evidence at trial was legally sufficient to establish symptoms of a mental state evidencing a physical injury within the meaning of the Bowman standard.

Conclusion

The court affirmed the judgment regarding the negligent misrepresentation claim but reversed the judgment concerning the intentional infliction of emotional distress claim, ruling that the evidence did not support the latter.

AS TO THE COUNT OF THE DECLARATION FOR NEGLIGENT MISREPRESENTATION: JUDGMENT AFFIRMED. AS TO THE COUNT OF THE DECLARATION FOR INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS: JUDGMENT REVERSED.

Who won?

Muriel Vance prevailed on the negligent misrepresentation claim because the court found sufficient evidence of physical injury resulting from Dr. Vance's negligent misrepresentation of his marital status.

The Court of Special Appeals, quoting from Bowman (164 Md. at 404, 165 A. 182), observed that the mental distress must result in “ ‘some clearly apparent and substantial physical injury, as manifested by an external condition or by symptoms clearly indicative of a resultant pathological, physiological, or mental state.’ ”

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