John Doe 1 ex rel. Jane Doe 1, et al. v. Roman Catholic Diocese of Nashville, et al.

In two separate civil actions, the plaintiffs, John Doe 1, Jane Doe 1 and John Doe 2 brought claims of reckless infliction of emotional distress against the defendant, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nashville. The lawsuits were consolidated for certain pretrial purposes and also for purposes of appellate review. The trial court denied in part the plaintiffs' motion to compel the defendant to provide answers to discovery and ultimately granted the defendant summary judgment as to all plaintiffs. On appeal, the Court of Appeals, holding that reckless infliction of emotional distress must be based on conduct that was directed at the plaintiff, affirmed summary judgment for the defendant. The Court of Appeals also declined to consider the plaintiffs' appeal of the partial denial of their motion to compel, regarding the issue as moot. We granted the plaintiffs' application for permission to appeal. After carefully considering the relevant authority, we hold that to be actionable, reckless infliction of emotional distress need not be based upon conduct that was directed at a specific person or that occurred in the presence of the plaintiff. Applying this holding, we conclude that the defendant is not entitled to summary judgment. Furthermore, in light of our holding, we vacate the trial court's denial of the plaintiffs' motion to compel. We remand this case to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion, including reconsideration of the plaintiffs' discovery requests.