Law for Business 12th Edition by James Barnes,Terry Dworkin,Eric Richards

Exercise 4

Roach, who used the name Debbie Tay, was a tattooed topless dancer who often was a guest on Howard Stern's show. He labeled her "Space Lesbian" because of her stories of sexual encounters with female aliens. When Roach died, she was cremated. Her sister gave part of her cremains to a close friend of Roach's. Stern persuaded the friend to appear on the show and bring them. Roach's brother told the station he objected to this. Nonetheless, the friend came and Stern, the friend, and other participants made comments about the cremains while handling bone fragments. Stern encouraged a participant to taste some of the cremains and describe what they tasted like, encouraged the friend to wear some around his neck, speculated about what various parts were, and said, "Wow, she was a piece of ash." Roach's brother sued for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Were Stern's actions sufficiently outrageous for such a claim?