Ward v. McGarry
Utah Court of Appeals
2022 Utah App. 62, 511 P.3d 1213 (2022)
- Written by Angela Patrick, JD
Facts
While Sarah Ward (plaintiff) and Meredith Dwight McGarry (defendant) were in a romantic relationship, Ward sent nude pictures of herself to McGarry. Later, the couple separated and had a dispute about custody of their shared child. Ward texted McGarry, promising that if McGarry deleted the nude photos, Ward would not use the photos in the custody dispute. McGarry texted that he agreed. Several years later, Ward learned that McGarry had not deleted the nude photos of her and that McGarry’s ex-wife and child had viewed them. Ward sued McGarry, bringing claims for breach of the text contract, the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress, and the tort of negligent infliction of emotional distress. McGarry moved to dismiss the contract claim, arguing that even if he had breached the contract, Ward’s only requested remedy—emotional-distress damages—was not a valid remedy. McGarry also moved to dismiss the two tort claims, arguing they were barred by the economic-loss rule. The trial court granted the motion, dismissing all the claims. Ward appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Forster, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 949,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 47,400 briefs, keyed to 1,004 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
- AI-generated podcast version of every brief — listen on the go, between classes, or whenever reading isn’t an option. New
