Dominguez v. Equitable Life Assurance
Court of Appeal of Florida
438 So. 2d 58 (1983)
Antonio Dominguez (plaintiff), left permanently disabled by a car accident and receiving $500 monthly disability benefits under a policy from Equitable Life (defendant), was visited years later by an Equitable Life representative who falsely claimed his eye doctor had reported his eyes now functioned normally and pressured him to sign away his continued benefits. When Dominguez refused, Equitable Life stopped his payments anyway, and he sued solely for intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED). The trial court dismissed the complaint because Dominguez alleged no separate underlying tort.
Whether a plaintiff may bring a single cause of action for intentional infliction of emotional distress even in the absence of another tort.