## Facts

- Theresa A. Smith was a law student at Southern University Law School.
- Curklin Atkins was a first-year law professor who taught Smith’s class.
- During the semester, Atkins made repeated sexual comments in class, including references to his own dating and sexual expectations.
- Atkins repeatedly used Smith (and another female student) as the subject of hypotheticals and comments that classmates viewed as demeaning; Smith asked him after class to stop, but the behavior continued.
- Atkins also told the class he had seen Smith at a New Orleans nightclub called “Whispers.”
- After a weekend when Smith had been at Whispers, she fell to the floor after missing her seat.
- On the next class day, Atkins recounted the incident to the class in a way that ridiculed Smith; when Smith asked why he did not help her up, Atkins called her a “slut” in front of the class (witnesses differed on the exact phrasing, but agreed the epithet was used).
- Smith left the room, was immediately physically ill, and later described ongoing humiliation.
- Word of the incident spread quickly around the law school.
- Students testified that some classmates stopped associating with Smith to avoid being targeted, and that Atkins’s standing as a professor caused some students to reassess Smith’s character.
- A student testified the incident could affect whether he would hire or partner with Smith because he viewed her as “of questionable character” after hearing the professor’s remark.
- Smith became depressed and withdrawn, had trouble sleeping and concentrating, and sought psychiatric care; she was diagnosed with an adjustment disorder with depressed mood.
- Smith sued Atkins for defamation; the trial court found defamation and awarded $1,500 in general damages, but did not award damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED).
- Smith appealed, challenging the amount of general damages and seeking recognition of IIED based on the trial record.

## Issues

1. Whether the $1,500 general damages award for defamation was too low given the public “slut” remark and its effect on Smith’s reputation and well-being.
2. Whether the trial record supported a finding that Atkins also committed intentional infliction of emotional distress.

## Decision

- The court affirmed the trial court’s finding of liability for defamation.
- The court increased general damages from $1,500 to $5,000.
- Based on the record, the court found that Atkins’s conduct also constituted IIED in addition to defamation.

## Legal Principles

- Defamation under Louisiana law requires: (1) a false and defamatory statement concerning another, (2) unprivileged publication to a third party, (3) fault (at least negligence), and (4) resulting injury.
- Some statements are treated as defamation per se, permitting an award of general damages without proof of special damages; accusations of serious sexual misconduct or unchastity may fall within this category.
- Publication is satisfied when the statement is communicated to persons other than the plaintiff, including an in-class statement made before students.
- General damages in defamation include harm to reputation, humiliation, and mental anguish; appellate courts may adjust an award that reflects an abuse of discretion in light of the record.
- IIED requires extreme and outrageous conduct, intent to cause distress (or reckless disregard of the probability of distress), and severe emotional distress.
- In evaluating IIED, courts may consider the setting and relationship between the parties, including the authority a professor holds over a student and the public nature of humiliation in a classroom.

## Conclusion

The Louisiana Fourth Circuit held that a professor’s in-class statement calling a law student a “slut,” widely circulated within the school and credited by some students because of the professor’s status, supported defamation liability and warranted more than nominal general damages; the court raised the award to $5,000 and also concluded that the record proved intentional infliction of emotional distress based on the professor’s course of conduct and the student’s medically supported emotional harm.


Smith v. Atkins, 622 So. 2d 795 (1993)