Massive Campaign of Online Insults Can Lead to Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress Liability
From Shanley v. Hutchings, decided earlier this year by Judge David Barlow (D. Utah); later in the year, a jury awarded plaintiff $1.15M in economic damages, $1.15M in noneconomic damages, and $4.5M in punitive damages:
… Plaintiffs Tera Shanley and her publishing company Wicked Willow Press, LLC (“Wicked Willow”) sued Defendant Robyn A. Hutchings for defamation per se, defamation, injurious falsehood, false light, tortious interference, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Now, Plaintiffs move for summary judgment. Ms. Hutchings did not respond to Plaintiffs’ Motion….
This case arises from voluminous statements Ms. Hutchings posted on various social media platforms concerning Ms. Shanley. Both Ms. Shanley and Ms. Hutchings are writers who primarily publish paranormal romance fiction novels. Ms. Shanley writes under her given name along with a penname, T.S. Joyce. Ms. Hutchings publishes under pennames Terry Bolryder and Domino Savage.
From around early July 2022 to at least August 29, 2022, Ms. Hutchings made hundreds of social media posts on various platforms accusing Ms. Shanley of various acts, including: rape, child sexual abuse, human trafficking, adultery, sexual coercion, blackmail, white supremacy, plagiarism, and abusing fans. Specifically, Ms. Hutchings explicitly accused Ms. Shanley of rape or rape of a child at least 13 times and alluded to such acts at least another 10 times. Ms. Hutchings then accused Ms. Shanley of human trafficking at least twice; adultery, “homewrecking,” or “coercion” at least six times; plagiarism at least three times; white supremacy at least once; stalking at least once; and being abusive at least twice. Ms. Hutchings claimed to have proof of her accusations on several occasions.
More generally, Ms. Hutchings simply harassed and insulted Ms. Shanley. And on several occasions, Ms. Hutchings alluded to physically harming Ms. Shanley. Indeed, Ms. Hutchings suggested that “she had been planning this for years.” Notably, in her Answer, Ms. Hutchings admits to making a number of the posts at issue in Ms. Shanley’s Motion. Ms. Shanley has submitted a declaration denying the acts of which Ms. Hutchings accused her.
At the time of the posts, Ms. Hutchings had around 1,500 followers on Instagram and 7,800 on Facebook. In addition, Ms. Shanley has presented evidence of other users interacting with Ms. Hutchings with regard to her statements.
Ms. Shanley has submitted a declaration detailing her economic damages, as well as her emotional damages. Ms. Shanley declares that she has “seen a continuous reduction in [her] book sales” following the posts, and that she was forced to triple the number of hours she worked per month in order to earn a similar living to what she had experienced prior to the onset of Ms. Hutchings’ posts. Ms. Shanley declares that her books have also seen a noticeable decrease in popularity following the onset of Ms. Hutchings’ posts. And Ms. Shanley declares that she has had serious mental health issues following Ms. Hutchings’ accusations and has sought therapy for some time. Finally, Ms. Shanley declares that she experienced significant familial struggles due to Ms. Hutchings’ posts. [In a different part of the opinion, the court notes evidence that “Ms. Shanley’s fiancé’s former mother-in-law sought to limit Ms. Shanley’s contact with her fiancé’s children as a result of Ms
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