Emotional Distress in the Legal System
Understanding Mental Anguish and Emotional Distress in a Legal Context
As the law understands it, emotional distress is a psychological response to some type of injury or maltreatment. This could be in the work environment, in which case the emotional distress would be related to the job. It could also be related to an accident. This psychological response could manifest itself in a number of physical problems.
You should be aware that many states make a distinction between "mental anguish" and "emotional distress." The legal basis for emotional distress will vary from state to state, but many maintain the same criteria. These criteria, among others, determine if someone is a candidate for suing a company for emotional distress.
There are situations where you could meet these criteria , while at other times it’s just not available to you. In some states, states of severe physical or mental distress may count for one. These are extreme cases of severe anxiety, stress and more which really seem to shake your world and leave you completely unable to deal with the normal functions of life.
Although these are the legal criteria for suing a company for emotional distress, they don’t have to apply in every case. You might have experienced a serious condition because of an accident with your car, a slip and fall on the job, etc.
The bottom line is that you have been emotionally hurt. You know that you have, and unless you are a compulsive liar, the truth is that you’ve been emotionally damaged. The key here is that you are able to receive the compensation that you deserve.
How to Sue a Company for Emotional Distress
The law recognizes various grounds on which you can sue a company for emotional distress. These include intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and other causes of action in which emotional distress is an element of the claim. An experienced attorney can explain what type of claim may be viable and feasible in your particular case.
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
A cause of action for intentional infliction of emotional distress exists if a defendant’s outrageous or extreme conduct deliberately or recklessly causes severe emotional distress to a plaintiff. Intent to distress is not an element of the tort; it is enough if there is a strong probability of harm. The conduct is characterized by "atrocious" and "beyond all bounds of decency."
One of the first cases recognizing a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress arose when a woman was accosted in her dwelling by groups of neighbors yelling racial epithets. She was alone at home at the time and suffered a heart attack as a result. Common emotional responses are not sufficient and lie on the spectrum of "good manners," even if it falls short. For example, being fired or extorted (demanding sexual favors for a promotion) is not rare.
The injured party must demonstrate that the defendant was the actual cause of the injury and that he or she acted with the intent to act, which resulted in the injury. Physical injury or property damage is not required; however, the standard of behavior required for the claim is very high, as stated by the California Supreme Court:
[c]onsidering the breadth of potential liability for a claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress, we adopt a standard that permits recovery only in the most egregious cases, where the recitation of the facts to an average member of the community would make him or her instantly sick. Liability, in other words, should not extend to mere insults, emotional upset, or loss of confidence.
Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress
Negligent infliction of emotional distress is a relaxation of the intentional inflection of emotional distress tort. A plaintiff does not need to show a specific intent to harm because the defendant did not foresee the impact on the person. Negligent infliction of emotional distress is usually a stand-alone tort; however, it can be the basis for recovering damages in another tort action, including employment-related torts and fraud.
A few case examples include:
Elder Abuse
California statute protects the elderly against certain types of physical abuse and recklessly causing harm. A civil claim exists against the defendant if he or she "knowingly caused or permitted" physical or emotional abuse that "resulted in physical harm or pain or mental suffering."
For example, in the case of Whitlow v. Town of Morgan Hill, 202 Cal. App.4th 168, a special education teacher claimed that school district administrators bullied and defamed him, then encouraged students, staff, parents, and community members to join the campaign to cause extreme emotional distress. The court held that the "defendants committed elder abuse when they knowingly permitted their course of conduct to continue even though it was causing Mr. Whitlow physical harm and mental suffering."
Intentional Tort or Negligence
If the plaintiff has an independent claim for either intentional tort or negligence, emotional distress is recoverable. For example, if a company discloses personal and private information in the course of collecting a debt, the plaintiff could have an invasion of privacy claim. If intentional, the recovery may include emotional distress. If negligent release of the information, the recovery would be as damages in a negligence claim.
Burden of Proof in Emotional Distress Cases
Successful claims for emotional distress must be based on legal damages, which means you cannot collect for just any emotional distress damage that was caused by a company’s conduct, and it must be proven with objective evidence when necessary. For example, if you are diagnosed by a psychologist or other mental health expert then you will need to show the diagnosis as well as the medical basis for it.
Another classic example of objective evidence being required to prove emotional distress damages is for depression. If you are feeling depressed or are now depressed due to your injury or suffering you will need to be treated and diagnosed for that: we cannot just take your word for it. And if there was no treatment until the trial, then you would be unable to prove the signs of depression to a jury. The same with anxiety, etc.
Of course, not any old doctor can provide the medical testimony that is needed. Only such doctors who can be deemed experts and such a therapist who is trained and who treats patients with such issues can provide expert opinion testimony to the jury. This is because the jury is not privy to your inner mental state and only knows what you can present to them. That should admonish you against lying or embellishing your symptoms because if you had a history of that type of behavior you may blow your case in one factual snippet – i.e. the attorney eliciting that fact on cross-examination.
Concerning the subjective feelings of emotional distress, you need to demonstrate how egregious the conduct or wrong suffered was. How did that affect your life and lifestyle? What impact does or would that have on your life going forward? For example, if you have lost a limb or had a limb affected by the conduct you may be able to use that to show such impact.
Your attorney should ask you a series of questions under oath concerning your mental state. Allow your attorney to ask all the questions that he or she feels comfortable asking and do not embellish the truth or fabricate facts. You should be in control of your emotions at the time of that deposition and when you answer these questions truthfully and accurately.
How Employment Status Impacts Emotional Distress Claims
A person’s employment status may have an effect on whether or not they can sue their employer for emotional distress. In some instances, a current employee may be restricted from pursuing their claim in court by an arbitration clause contained within an employment agreement. Even without a contractual limitation on the right to sue, a current employee might be taking a big risk by seeking to hold their employer liable for intentional infliction of emotional distress. The reluctance of some courts to reward current employees for problems they cause in the workplace is a factor in many of these decisions.
The legal theory of negligent infliction of emotional distress can be asserted by a current employee regardless of who caused the harm. The potential drawback to current employees pursuing their employers using this type of claim is that, upon being informed of the lawsuit, the employer has the right to terminate the employment contract without repercussion. In other words, while a former employee falls within the statute of limitations to pursue either of these claims, an employer is free to sever the relationship if the plaintiff is still working for them. This sometimes reduces the overall value of the case, but not always.
Former employees have a much easier time filing an intentional infliction of emotional distress case, because they are not subject to any arbitration agreements, nor are they at risk of being fired. However, any former employees who wish to file such a lawsuit must be within the statute of limitations, which is usually two years.
Settlement and Verdicts in Emotional Distress Lawsuits
If you win a lawsuit against a company for emotional distress, you may be eligible to collect damages in several different forms. While the precise amount of any given award will depend upon the specific facts of the case, there are few guidelines that are familiar to all emotional distress lawsuits.
Emotional distress damages can include compensation for psychological pain and suffering as well as physical conditions related to mental distress including stress-related illness, headaches, and muscle tension.
There are no limitations on the amount of compensation that a jury can impose for emotional pain and suffering. Juries have awarded damages in some emotional distress lawsuits totaled over one million dollars. However, most back injuries that lead to lawsuits are substantially lower than those figures. In most cases , a family that prevails in an emotional distress lawsuit can expect to receive $250,000 in damages, but the amounts can occasionally be significantly higher.
Moreover, caps could be applied to the damages awarded in an emotional distress lawsuit. In approximately half of the states in the United States, limitations are in place that cap the damages recoverable in emotional distress lawsuits at $350,000 or $500,000. The caps may also apply to both damages for emotional pain and suffering as well as damages for physical pain and suffering.
Due to the limits previously stated, there is an advantage for a plaintiff who is able to prove both physical damages and emotional damages. If awarded the right amount of damages at trial, these emotional distress lawsuits for accidents are sometimes combined with physical damages that lead to a large award. Most juries recognize the two as related.
The Process for Suing for Emotional Distress
If after consulting a lawyer you decide to proceed with a lawsuit, the first step is gathering evidence. Your lawyer may have a standard form for you to fill out, but what the lawyers at our firm are looking for are facts. The way that you met the defendant and how you interacted with them, as well as a detailed description of what happened to you to give context, creates a good picture. From there a timeline of the events can be created, and those events can be categorized in accord with infliction of emotional distress.
The next step is figuring out how to gather the evidence. If the incident occurred in private and there are no witnesses, you’ll have to rely on the defendant’s own statements as the primary evidence of the emotional distress they caused you in the course of your interactions with them. The best evidence would be a recording, and there are some circumstances in which recordings can be legally made. If a recording is not possible, then you need to find a witness who can corroborate your account of events. A written account of the events that you’ve experienced along with medical evaluations connecting your distress to the events will serve as persuasive evidence.
After gathering evidence, it’s time to file a lawsuit. The complaint has to be filed in a court in Washington state and should state the specific legal grounds for your claim, list the relevant facts, and specify what damages you’re seeking against the defendant. Medical bills, receipts, and invoices should all generally be gathered in order to prove the extent of your damages. When you’ve filed your complaint, the defendant will have to file a response. Often there will be settlement negotiations before a trial occurs. If case cannot be settled or taken care of through mediation, then a trial will be necessary. Cases are heard in front of a judge in civil courtrooms with juries, and you’ll need a lawyer there to help defend your case. At a trial, the judge or jury will decide whether the defendant is in the right or you are.
Challenges and Considerations When Suing for Emotional Distress
Pursuing a claim for emotional distress can be a complex and emotionally taxing process. Individuals who believe they have a valid case for suing a company for emotional distress face two major hurdles. First, they are required to provide evidence to support their emotional distress claim. Second, even if they do have good supporting evidence, they may be fighting an uphill battle in terms of the company’s legal defense strategies. To add to the difficulties, the process can involve frustrating discovery, byzantine legal terminology, and potentially years of pre-trial motions and appeals. While there are some legal protections out there to ensure plaintiffs at least qualify for a jury trial, there are no guarantees that they will receive a favorable verdict. This is why it’s so important to work with an experienced attorney who understands all aspects of suing a company for emotional distress.
By far the most common defense strategy waged by companies sued for emotional distress is to argue the claim lacks sufficient basis in fact. The most effective defense lawyers will do everything in their power to poke holes in the plaintiff’s story. They will argue for dismissing lesser claims—such as breach of contract violations—as unrelated to the emotional distress case . They will argue that the plaintiff’s emotional state is not the company’s fault at all. It is the plaintiff’s responsibility to prove his or her facts are true in order to avoid having the case dismissed by a judge before it can reach a jury.
That’s why emotionally troubling discovery can feel like a relentless barrage of legal jargon. In addition to having to uncover documents and artifacts that clearly demonstrate their emotional distress, a plaintiff will likely be subjected to interrogatories (written questions), requests for admissions of fact, depositions (testimony taken under oath), and even demands for mental and physical examinations. Again, this may all feel like an effort to say that the plaintiff is at fault, but the company’s attorneys are simply trying to confirm that the plaintiff has sufficient basis in fact for their claim. Facing all of this can bring up repressed emotions or even create new ones, further complicating a plaintiff’s efforts to prove what they need to prove.
The primary guideline when considering a case of suing a company for emotional distress is to hire a good attorney. Only an attorney with years of experience in these types of cases can provide the legal strategy necessary to win a jury trial.
Leave a Reply