In Woodruff v. City of Tuscaloosa, No. 1110355, the
Alabama Supreme Court reconfirmed that a trial court may dismiss an asserted
tort-of-outrage cause of action based on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion if the trial
court concludes that there is no basis for the claim. The plaintiff’s
relief is to seek appellate review and seek to convince the appellate court
that the particular facts warrant an expansion of the situations in which this
“special” claim is viable.
Additionally, when the defendants sought to
discover Woodruff’s medical records, he protested that he had suffered no
emotional distress. This protest was a self-admission that he had
suffered no emotional distress, an necessary element of a tort-of-outrage
claim.
