Opinion ID: 1776784
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: did the trial court err in granting its instruction 14a?

Text: ¶ 28. Instruction 14A states as follows: If you find from a preponderance of the evidence that the actions and/or omissions of Sheri Thornton or any other employee of the Defendant corporation were performed either intentionally in an effort to cause Heather Gamble to sustain and experience mental and emotional distress and anguish or that said actions and/or omissions on the part of the Defendants were performed negligently which resulted in mental and emotional distress and anguish being suffered by Heather Gamble, which distress and anguish were reasonably foreseeable results of Defendant's Conduct, then your verdict shall be for the Plaintiff as to said claim. However, if you find that the Plaintiff has failed to prove these elements by a preponderance of the evidence, then your verdict shall be for the Defendants as to said count. Dollar General states that this instruction is a misstatement of the law and that it improperly fails to distinguish between the standards for proving the elements of intentional infliction of emotional distress and the elements of negligent infliction of emotional distress. Dollar General offers no legal support for its determination that Instruction 14A was improper. This Court finds that Jury Instruction 14A sufficiently instructs the jury as to the elements for proving each claim. This issue lacks merit.