Emotional Distress Lawsuit: Can You Sue for Emotional Distress?

Emotional distress lawsuits are a type of personal injury lawsuit that can be brought when someone experiences severe mental anguish or trauma as a result of the negligent actions of another person or business. These lawsuits usually arise in the aftermath of some sort of negligence, accident, assault, or invasion of privacy.

Can you sue for emotional distress? If you have been the victim of another person’s negligence and have experienced significant emotional distress as a result, you may want to explore your options for bringing an emotional distress lawsuit. This article will help you understand what an emotional distress lawsuit is and if it would be right for your situation.

What Counts as Emotional Distress?

Emotional distress is a broad term that covers a wide range of mental states. It can encompass feelings of depression, anxiety, fear, anger, shock, and grief. Emotional distress can come in the form of an emotional injury or emotional damage. In general, any sort of trauma caused by negligence can be considered emotional distress.

Examples of emotional distress include the following:

Neglect of a child or elder in a nursing home or daycare setting.
Psychological abuse.
Physical abuse, such as corporal punishment.
Sexual abuse, such as rape or molestation.
Discrimination in hiring practices based on age, gender, race, religion, or other protected categories.
Medical malpractice.
Invalidation of a person’s experiences, such as gaslighting.
Traumatic events, such as witnessing a violent crime.
Any other event that causes significant mental anguish.
Medical malpractice.
Sexual harassment in the workplace.

Emotional distress is not limited to the above examples; it covers any negligent act that causes a victim to suffer from emotional trauma. The key factor is that the mental injury must be severe enough to warrant compensation and recovery costs. For example, if a victim suffers only mild depression or anxiety as a result of their negligence-based injury, they would not be eligible for an emotional distress lawsuit. However, if their depression was so severe as to interfere with their ability to work and earn a living, then they might have grounds for an emotional distress lawsuit against their negligent party.

Emotional Distress Lawsuit: Can You Sue for Emotional Distress?

What Is an Emotional Distress Lawsuit?

An emotional distress lawsuit is a type of personal injury lawsuit that is meant to cover the costs of the mental distress that resulted from the negligence of another person or business. These lawsuits can be brought in the aftermath of some sort of negligence, accident, assault, or invasion of privacy.

Emotional distress lawsuits are also sometimes referred to as “negligence-based negligence” because they are meant to compensate the victim in addition to the costs incurred by the negligent party. Emotional distress lawsuits are usually accompanied by other lawsuits based in a physical injury sustained by the victim of negligence.

Types of Emotional Distress Lawsuits

There are several different types of emotional distress lawsuits. The following are the most common types:

1. Negligent Infliction of Emotional distress:

Negligent infliction of emotional distress is a type of emotional distress claim that arises from the negligent action of another person.

2. Intentional Infliction of Emotional distress:

Intentional infliction of emotional distress involves the intentional, harmful actions of another person that cause emotional distress.

3. False imprisonment:

False imprisonment is a type of emotional distress lawsuit that may arise if someone is wrongly imprisoned against their will.

4. Invasion of privacy:

A lawsuit for invasion of privacy may be brought when someone’s private situation is intentionally publicized against their will.

5. Defamation:

Defamation is a false statement made about a person that damages their reputation.

6. Negligent supervision:

Negligent supervision is a lawsuit that may be brought against a parent or other caretaker who neglects their duty to supervise a child to the point of causing emotional distress.

Can You Sue for Emotional Distress?

Generally speaking, you can sue for emotional distress if you have experienced significant mental anguish as a result of another person or entity’s negligence.

You do not need to be the one who was directly injured in the accident; your emotional distress can arise from witnessing an accident or other event.

In order to bring a successful emotional distress lawsuit, you must be able to prove that the negligent action caused you significant mental anguish and/or trauma.

How Do You Prove Emotional Distress?

According to legal experts who write for us on law, there are no hard and fast rules for how to go about proving emotional distress in court, but there are certain things you can do to make it easier on yourself. Keep a detailed log of the events leading up to the court date, including all interactions with the ex-spouse that were painful and/or humiliating.

These entries will be helpful later, as they will allow you to create a timeline of events and facts that will be helpful in developing your narrative. Keep copies of all emails, texts, and social media posts that were offensive or humiliating. These will also be helpful later, as you can use them for evidence in court. Keep any documentation from medical providers that shows the extent of your suffering.

Limitations of an Emotional Distress Lawsuit

Emotional distress lawsuits are extremely difficult to win. Unlike physical injury lawsuits, emotional distress lawsuits are difficult to prove because they rely on subjective factors, such as how affected you were by the event that caused your mental anguish. In order to win an emotional distress lawsuit, you will need to be able to prove the following:

There was negligent action on behalf of another person or entity.
You experienced significant mental anguish as a result of the negligence.
You were otherwise justified in bringing the lawsuit.

Is An Emotional Distress Lawsuit Right For You?

Emotional Distress Lawsuit: Can You Sue for Emotional Distress?

This is a difficult question to answer because it depends on your particular situation. There are a number of factors that will affect your decision about whether to pursue an emotional distress lawsuit, including the following:

How much the event has affected you emotionally.
The severity of your emotional distress.
The extent of your injuries.
The amount you can expect to be awarded in damages if you win the lawsuit.
Whether there are other parties who may be responsible for your damages (such as an insurance company).
Your ability to handle the litigation process.
Your financial situation.

How to File an Emotional Distress Lawsuit

If you have decided to pursue an emotional distress lawsuit, there are several steps you will want to take.

First, you will want to contact a personal injury attorney to discuss your situation and decide whether you have a viable emotional distress lawsuit. In most cases, you will also want to report the accident to the authorities.

Once you have a legal representative, you will likely be asked to provide an account of what happened, a description of your mental and emotional state after the accident, and a list of any expenses related to your emotional distress.

Your attorney will also want to obtain any evidence that supports your claim, such as medical records or eyewitness reports.

Conclusion

If you have been the victim of another person’s negligence and have experienced significant emotional distress as a result, you may want to explore your options for bringing an emotional distress lawsuit. This article will help you understand what an emotional distress lawsuit is and if it would be right for your situation.