## Facts

- Larry Williams, an African-American employee, worked for Worldwide Flight Services, Inc. and was supervised by Arthur Ambruster.
- Williams alleged Ambruster engaged in repeated, racially motivated harassment, including using an extremely offensive racial epithet, calling Williams a “monkey,” and making racially derogatory comments about Williams’s presence at work.
- The alleged insults and humiliation occurred publicly, including in front of coworkers and over company radios/walkie-talkies.
- Williams alleged Ambruster assigned him dangerous or undesirable tasks and imposed extra duties designed to deprive him of breaks.
- Williams alleged Ambruster falsely accused him of stealing and threatened to fire him.
- Williams alleged Ambruster instructed another supervisor to falsify documentation to create a disciplinary record to justify terminating Williams.
- Williams claimed the conduct caused him severe emotional distress.
- Williams sued the employer in tort for intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED) and negligent retention, rather than pursuing statutory anti-discrimination remedies.
- The trial court dismissed the complaint with prejudice for failure to state a claim.

## Issues

1. Whether the complaint stated a claim for IIED by alleging conduct sufficiently “outrageous” and emotional distress sufficiently severe under Florida law.
2. Whether the complaint stated a claim for negligent retention by adequately alleging the employer knew or should have known of the supervisor’s unfitness and failed to take corrective action.

## Decision

- The appellate court reversed the dismissal with prejudice and remanded for further proceedings.
- The court held the complaint sufficiently alleged IIED.
- The court held the complaint sufficiently alleged negligent retention.

## Legal Principles

- IIED in Florida requires allegations of: (1) deliberate or reckless infliction of mental suffering; (2) outrageous conduct; (3) causation; and (4) severe emotional distress.
- “Outrageous” conduct must be so extreme and intolerable as to go beyond all possible bounds of decency.
- At the motion-to-dismiss stage, well-pleaded allegations are taken as true and evaluated under notice-pleading standards.
- Negligent retention requires allegations that the employer knew or should have known of an employee’s propensity for the misconduct and failed to take appropriate action, resulting in injury.
- Repeated, public racial slurs and related abusive conduct by a supervisor, combined with alleged efforts to manufacture a basis for termination, may be sufficient to plead “outrageous” conduct and employer knowledge for negligent retention.

## Conclusion

The court held that allegations of sustained, public, racially degrading harassment by a supervisor—along with alleged retaliatory work assignments and fabricated disciplinary efforts—were sufficient to state claims for IIED and negligent retention, making dismissal at the pleading stage improper.


Williams v. Worldwide Flight Servs., Inc., 877 So. 2d 869 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2004)