Emotional distress is a bit of an unclear term, but damages for emotional distress can be a huge part of many cases. Knowing when and how to sue for emotional distress is important when considering a lawsuit.
Emotional distress can be part of a personal injury case if the emotional distress (and other mental/emotional damages) stem from the physical injuries. You can also traditionally sue for emotional distress on its own if it results in physical symptoms (e.g., ulcers, heart attacks). However, suing for emotional distress on its own is much more difficult.
For help with your injury case, call Schoenfeld Law Firm’s Lafayette, LA personal injury attorneys at (504) 688-7760 for a free case evaluation.
Suing for Emotional Distress in an Injury Case
When you get hurt in an accident and file a personal injury case, you can claim damages for any harms that stem from the injury. This includes economic damages to cover medical bills, lost wages, and other costs, but it also includes non-economic damages to cover the intangible harms you face.
Non-economic damages can include coverage for things like pain and suffering, mental anguish, and, of course, emotional distress.
Proving Emotional Distress
In an injury case, it is assumed that there are non-economic or “general” damages, often lumped under the umbrella term “pain and suffering.” Injuries hurt, and that pain brings with it some level of mental and emotional harm.
More serious injuries have more pain and suffering, emotional distress, etc., but you can also prove the extent of your emotional distress with evidence, such as the following:
- Your testimony about the pain, discomfort, and mental/emotional effects of the injury
- Proof of what abilities you lose or tasks you can no longer perform
- Proof of the ways the injury changed or impacted your lifestyle
- Testimony from family and friends about the changes the injury caused you
- Testimony from doctors and therapists about the mental toll of the injury.
Calculating Emotional Distress Damages
More serious injury cases are assumed to have higher damages, but putting a price tag on emotional damages can be more of an art than a science. Two methods are commonly used:
- The Multiplier Method – Assign a multiplier from 1.5 to 5 based on how severe your injury is, then multiply your economic damages by that amount to get a total for non-economic damages.
- The Per Diem Method – Assign a daily value to your pain and suffering, emotional distress, etc., usually based on your daily income level. Then adjust as needed and multiply that by the number of days you experience pain and suffering/emotional distress.
Neither method is perfect, and amounts often need to be adjusted based on your specific evidence and the facts of your case.
Can You Get Emotional Distress Damages on Their Own?
Lawsuits for injuries from an accident caused by “negligence” are just one type of “tort” you can sue for. You can sometimes sue for emotional distress through this and other causes of action, too.
Negligence
As mentioned, you can sue for accidental injuries that result in emotional distress, getting damages for the injuries and the emotional side of things. Emotional distress without injury is a tricky area of law that has special guidelines for lawsuits that a Louisiana personal injury lawyer should review.
Some cases require special duties and severe mental harm or a manifestation of physical symptoms, such as physical illness. This could involve some concrete physical injury like a heart attack occurring from a stressful – but otherwise non-physical – situation.
Injury to Another
Louisiana law also allows for a negligence lawsuit when you witness an injury to a loved one. This is sometimes called negligent infliction of emotional distress (NIED). These claims typically require a close family member (parents, children, siblings, grandparents, or grandchildren) to be injured in front of you in an accident.
This allows you to sue for your own mental anguish and emotional distress if you witnessed the accident or came upon the scene soon afterwards.
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (IIED)
Lawsuits for IIED are rare, but they can be filed when someone seriously harasses you with the intent to cause you emotional distress. However, actions must be quite severe to count as IIED.
FAQs for Emotional Distress Claims in Louisiana
Can You Sue for Emotional Distress in Other Cases?
Our lawyers practice primarily in personal injury law, so we do not typically take other kinds of cases. That being said, sometimes emotional distress or mental anguish damages are indeed available in other kinds of cases.
What Constitutes Negligence?
Injury claims are usually based on negligence, meaning that the case meets these four elements:
- The defendant owed you a legal duty.
- The defendant breached that duty by failing to use the proper care or skill required.
- That breach caused the accident.
- You suffered damages.
Can You Sue for Emotional Distress?
Louisiana law quite broadly holds people accountable for the harm they cause others, so emotional distress damages are on the table in most injury cases. However, you still need evidence of how severe they are, and if there was no physical injury, additional qualifications might need to be met, too.
What Kind of Lawyer Helps with Emotional Distress Claims?
Most claims for emotional distress are tied to an injury claim, which is something our personal injury lawyers can help with.
How Much is Emotional Distress Worth?
As with any damages, the amount of money you can claim for your emotional distress is based on the amount of harm you actually suffered. More serious effects, like PTSD symptoms or lifestyle changes, result in higher damages.
Can I Sue for PTSD and Other Mental Disorders?
If you suffered a mental disorder because of a physical injury – e.g., PTSD after a serious car accident – damages for that disorder can definitely be part of your injury case. If you suffered an accident that resulted in no physical harm, but mental effects only, the case is more complex, and you should speak with a lawyer to see if you can include those damages.
Call Our Personal Injury Lawyers in Louisiana Today
Call Schoenfeld Law Firm’s New Orleans, LA personal injury attorneys at (504) 688-7760 to get started on your potential case.
