Serious psychological or emotional pain is commonly referred to as emotional distress, and it may come up as signs like:
- Anxiety or mood disorders
- Lack of sleep
- Irritability
- Signs of illness such as vomiting or headaches
Cases including harassment, discrimination, lies, or severe injuries forced on by someone else are common examples. Money losses or injury to your body may cause emotional distress, which can have a more serious impact on your daily life. Cases for emotional distress provides people a chance to get compensation for serious psychological pain carried on by the actions of someone else. According to research, approximately one out of five people in the US have emotional distress annually. This data is offered by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). In addition, in accordance to a 2021 inquiry, 73% of American adults claimed incidents in their lives at home or at work had led them to go through serious stress.
An emotional distress claim is a legal claim that can also be perused if someone faces emotional damage. However, an emotional distress claim is tough to verify as compared to physical damages. These types of cases requires proof, including medical records, any documentation of emotional impressions, etc. In this article, we will discuss the emotional distress claims detail and how compensation you can get.
Types of emotional distress claims:
Whenever anyone suffers serious mental or emotional suffering as a result of another person’s acts, they can file an emotional distress claim that is a type of the law concerning personal injuries. Common emotional distress lawsuit types are below:
1. Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress:
It happen when a person intentionally or negligently behaves in an action that is silly and severely harms the feelings of someone else.
Examples- Involve a danger of serious injury or murder.
- Practicing continuous harassment or abuse.
- Severe bullying or humiliation in society
2. Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress:
It happens when a person acts carelessly or irresponsibly and unknowingly causes emotional pain.
Examples- Include doctor giving a patient's personal health information.
- Noticing an awful accident caused on by ignorance.
Limits of Emotional Distress Claims in Small Claims Courts:
Small claims courts were created to resolve small-scale claims including small sums of money. The scope of the small claims court's jurisdiction, the type of the damage and related damages of the main emotional pain, there is also a limits on the amount of money you can request in situations involving emotional distress.
Jurisdiction:
Different states or countries have different jurisdictions regarding small claims. Following are the limits of small claims including emotional distress in some major counties:
- California State offers small claims up to $12500 for individuals and up to $6250 for businesses.
- Florida State offers small claims up to $8,000.
- New York State offers small claims up to $10,000.
- Texas State offers small claims up to $20,000.
Type of Harm:
The limit of emotional distress also depends on the type of harm and the intensity of harm someone faces.
Other Damages:
If someone faces some additional damages other than that basic emotional damage, then the amount of the claim may be higher than usual.
Proving Emotional Distress
As it is possible to sue for emotional distress in small claims courts, this can be challenging as compared to physical damages. You will need to prove the following:
Medical Records:You will need to show the medical records to prove your emotional distress. You should keep in record your medical history such as disease diagnosis and treating receipts and medicine receipts etc.
Witness Statements:You will need to provide witness of your emotional distress. They can be you family members, your friends, your colleagues or your neighbors who can witness your emotional health changes.
Incident Evidence:You are also required to keep record of the defendant’s interaction with you such as text messages, photos, videos, emails etc. that can prove defendant’s harmful actions towards you.
Challenges of Suing for Emotional Distress in Small Claims Court
There may be some challenges that you may face while pursuing the emotional distress in small claims courts.
Following are some key challenges you can face:
It is comparatively hard to prove your emotional distress. Physical damages can have straightforward proofs, but emotional distress small claims require some tangible proofs to show, like medical records, medication receipts, etc.
Limited Damages:You are restricted from recovering the limited emotional damage due to the jurisdictions of the small claims courts.
No attorney representation:For the small claims, like emotional claims, you are not allowed to have a lawyer represent you in court. You can have legal advices from the lawyers but you need to file your case by yourself.
Alternative Courts for Emotional Distress Claims
If emotional damages lawsuit is more than the small claims limit of the courts, you can sue your damage claim in civil court instead of the small claims courts. You may be capable of doing it if you face the following:
- You may have advanced compensation limits.
- You may have faced difficult lawful actions.
- You may have the capacity to have legal representation.
Conclusion
As it is possible to sue for emotional distress in small claims courts, but this can be challenging as compared to physical damages. These types of cases need proof, including medical records, any documentation of emotional impressions, etc. To improve your feasible result, you must know about maximum limits and small claims court rules in the state you live in. You must gather solid proof such as reports of incidents, statements from witnesses, and health records. You should create a brief, simple case for how the defendant's behavior causing you damage.
Small claims courts were created to resolve small-scale claims including small sums of money. The scope of the small claims court's jurisdiction, the type of the damage and related damages of the main emotional pain, there is also a limits on the amount of money you can request in situations involving emotional distress. If emotional damages lawsuit is more than the small claims limit of the courts, you can sue your damage claim in civil court instead of the small claims courts.
