Murphy v. Murphy

In Murphy v. Murphy, 109 A.D.2d 965 (3d Dep't 1985), the plaintiff brought an action against a person with whom she had been living. As the relationship ended, the defendant removed all of plaintiff's possessions from their home (which plaintiff later returned), smashed windows in their home, threatened plaintiff, assaulted plaintiff, destroyed plaintiff's belongings and killed plaintiff's pet goose. It was determined that defendant's actions constituted the intentional infliction of emotional distress and, on appeal, in 1985, plaintiff was awarded $ 45,000.00 in compensatory damages.