Litigation

Summary Judgment Affirmed for Outrage Claim in Employer Dispute

By H. William Allen et al.

Under Arkansas law, it is difficult to make a claim for outrage in an employer dispute. The most recent example is Cesena v. Gray, No. 08-830 (March 4, 2009).

The employee complained that his supervisor at Blue Cross threatened to beat him up and tried to have him terminated. In a brief opinion affirming summary judgment, the court said that even assuming these facts are true, they are not enough to state a claim for outrage. The result was not much of a surprise, considering actual violence and actual termination has been held not to amount to outrage. See Smith v. American Greetings Corp., 304 Ark. 596 (1991).

Full post as published by Arkansas Business Litigation Blog on March 04, 2009 (boomark / email).