In the spring of 2000, plaintiff Jason Oldani, a fourth grader at Our Savior Lutheran School, a grammar school in Livermore, was prevented from continuing to attend fourth grade classes at the school. He claimed that he was improperly prevented from attending class unless his father, James Oldani, retracted comments he made in a January 2000 letter to the church/school. He alleged the letter complained of the actions and conduct of school staff during an eighth grade school field trip to Yosemite Park in February 1999. Specifically, the letter complained of the conduct of Teresa Howard, a former junior high teacher at the school. Jason claimed that he and his older, 12-year-old sister were both expelled from the school in retaliation for their father’s letter. Jason, now 22 year old, sued Our Savior Lutheran Ministries, also known as Our Savior Lutheran School; Teresa Howard, now known as Teresa Hansen; the former acting principal at the school, Steven Christopher; and the former pastor at the school, Theodore Hartman. He alleged that the defendants’ malicious actions constituted intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. Jason claimed that the defendants wanted to force his father to sign a letter recanting comments that staff was inebriated during the February 1999 trip to Yosemite Park. He claimed that his father’s complaints were neither taken seriously, nor adequately investigated, and that his father refused to sign the retraction letter because he believed the statements to be true. Jason further claimed that the defendants demanded a retraction and that when his father refused to sign one, he did not return to the fourth grade. Staff at Our Savior Lutheran Ministries denied the comments were true. The defendants admitted that the decision to keep Jason out of classes was in order to secure a letter of apology from James Oldani, but they denied that there was intent to cause any damage to Jason., Jason, now 22, sought recovery for his emotional distress regarding his expulsion from the school, which occurred in the middle of the school year. He claimed that he then was forced to complete the fourth grade at a public school before matriculating to St. Phillip Lutheran School. He alleged that as a result, he suffered severe anxiety and became emotionally upset, causing him to be seen and treated by an expert in marriage and family therapy for counseling. Defense counsel noted that the plaintiff’s alleged damages were limited by stipulation to damages commencing at the point of communication between Christopher and Jason’s parents on March 20, 2000, during which it was disclosed that Jason could not continue attending classes in March 2000. Counsel also noted that the stipulation limited the claims to damages ending in October 2003, since Jason did not claim he continued to suffer any ill effects or damages as result of the defendants’ actions after that time. Defense counsel disputed the extent of damages claimed by Jason and argued that he should be awarded nothing since the defendants denied intending to cause damage to him.