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Suing for emotional distress

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hrhgkar5

Junior Member
What is the name of your state?
Connecticut

Hi this lady that was a friend of my family came to my house today and started yelling at my mother which later caused her to got to the hospital. She told the woman not to yell and that she couldn't deal with such stressful situaions because she has a heart problem and the lady said, " I'll yell some more so it kills you!" The lady has been after my mother for some time now and my mother disn't want the confrontation. This whole situaion has caused my family a great deal of emotional distress and pain. I would like to know if we can sue her for both emotional distress and pain and suffering and on what grounds could I go about doing that. The lady is rich so she wont miss the money. My mother was kept overnight and possibly for two more nights. She is on a heart monitor and the doctors say she could have had a stroke. Is that enough to sue?
You can email me your responses to [email protected]
 


I AM ALWAYS LIABLE

Senior Member
hrhgkar5 said:
What is the name of your state?
Connecticut

Hi this lady that was a friend of my family came to my house today and started yelling at my mother which later caused her to got to the hospital. She told the woman not to yell and that she couldn't deal with such stressful situaions because she has a heart problem and the lady said, " I'll yell some more so it kills you!" The lady has been after my mother for some time now and my mother disn't want the confrontation. This whole situaion has caused my family a great deal of emotional distress and pain. I would like to know if we can sue her for both emotional distress and pain and suffering and on what grounds could I go about doing that. The lady is rich so she wont miss the money. My mother was kept overnight and possibly for two more nights. She is on a heart monitor and the doctors say she could have had a stroke. Is that enough to sue?
You can email me your responses to [email protected]

My response:

"Emotional Distress" is not an independent cause of action. Emotional Distress is a "result" of something that IS a legally cognizable "cause of action". For example, "assault & battery" or "trespass" or "negligence". Those are "independent causes of action" where "emotional distress" can be a "result" and thus, pleaded as part of your Mom's damages.

So, unless your Mom can come up with a viable cause of action that emotional distress can be "attached", then your Mom doesn't have a cause of action against the lady - - even though your Mom ended up in the hospital due to the distress.

However, once your Mom gets out of the hospital, she can easily obtain a Restraining (or "Stay Away") Order from the court. They're very easy to obtain.

IAAL
 

pisces33

Junior Member
if that was me i'd be investigating criminal charges. you cant just find out that someone has a medical condition that is aggravated by stress and then proceed to announce that they are gonna stress them till they die. Then they end up in the hospital. I'd say that was attemped murder. Or reckless endangerment. In any case, it's just plain evil and there ought to be a law if there isn't one already. how can a person just get AWAY with something like that?

good luck.:confused:
 

Proserpina

Senior Member
if that was me i'd be investigating criminal charges. you cant just find out that someone has a medical condition that is aggravated by stress and then proceed to announce that they are gonna stress them till they die. Then they end up in the hospital. I'd say that was attemped murder. Or reckless endangerment. In any case, it's just plain evil and there ought to be a law if there isn't one already. how can a person just get AWAY with something like that?

good luck.:confused:


Why in the world did you dig up a five year old thread?

If you have a question, please start your own thread.

And please remember that what you posted here is legal nonsense.
 

BL

Senior Member
Why in the world did you dig up a five year old thread?

If you have a question, please start your own thread.

And please remember that what you posted here is legal nonsense.
I thought my eyes were deceiving me ,until I looked at the dates .
 

quincy

Senior Member
I am more surprised by IAAL's answer, actually, than I am to see one of these old threads resurface. I have read some of IAAL's earliest posts (before he went off the deep-end) and he had a good working knowledge of the law.

In his reply to hrhgkar5, however, he is wrong.

Intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress are both personal injury torts and independent causes of action, although "emotional distress" is more often claimed as an injury that results from another cause of action (like invasion of privacy).

This is largely due to the requirements that must be met in order to have a successful independent infliction of emotional distress action. To bring a claim under these torts, the emotional distress must be severe and caused by acts so extreme and outrageous that they go beyond all reasonable bounds of decency. "Extreme outrageousness" limits the types of cases where these torts can be used, to the point where such actions are rare.

So, while I agree with IAAL's bottom line and with a restraining order being the best way to handle the "friend of the family," I disagree that emotional distress cannot at times be an independent cause of action.
 
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