Can You Sue for Emotional Abuse?
Is it possible to sue for emotional abuse? There is important information to understand here.
Read now.
Introduction
Nobody ever expects to get themselves into a situation where they are suffering emotional abuse in a certain situation. This can happen in all types of relationships – a spouse or domestic partner, parent-child, religious institutions, employer-employee, or something else – and those who are being emotionally abused often don’t even realize what is happening until the damage has already been done. Maybe it was dismissed as just an argument or a minor disagreement. Whatever the situation, heated emotions that escalate over time can lead to emotional abuse.
If you are on the receiving end of this pain, you have rights. The State of California allows victims to sue for emotional abuse. Here is everything you need to know.
What is Emotional Abuse?
Emotional abuse is considered nonphysical abuse that puts down and belittles another person. And although it can vary between each situation, emotionally abusive behavior can include things like verbal threats and insults to make the person feel shame, guilt, degradation. And it can lead to feelings of grief, anxiety, worry, humiliation, shame, suffering, anguish, fright, horror, shock, and nervousness.
In order for emotional distress to be considered emotional abuse under California law, it cannot be sporadic or mild, but rather severe and long-lasting. This emotional distress should be at a level that no reasonable human being should have to experience. In other words, you cannot sue someone because they once said something mean and your feelings got hurt.
Many people think of domestic violence as physical. And while much of the time it is, it can also include emotional abuse, too. Abusers don’t necessarily just use one tactic for asserting power and control over victims.
Examples of Emotional Abuse
Emotional Abuse can come in many different forms, but a few of the most common include spousal abuse, domestic violence, child abuse, elder abuse, nursing home abuse, and stalking. Let’s take a closer look at some examples of emotional abuse in order to gain a clearer picture.
- Threatening behavior toward the victim
- Jealousy/accusations
- Humiliating a significant other, child, or other victim
- Blaming problems on the victim
- Denying the behavior
- Criticizing or shaming the victim in front of others
- Name calling – especially derogatory names
- Throwing insults to the victim
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (IIED)
According to the laws of California, the proper name for a lawsuit claiming emotional abuse is Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, or IIED. This type of case does not require there to be evidence of any physical injury, but rather just a claim that the defendant acted intentionally to cause the plaintiff emotional distress to the plaintiff.
In this case, you must prove that the defendant used outrageous conduct intentionally or recklessly to cause you severe emotional distress.
A few examples of IIED include:
- Sexual assualt or sexual abuse
- Retaliation in the workplace
- Selling a dangerous product
- Abuses a relation or position
Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress (NIED)
On the other hand, a claim of Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress (NIED) is filed when emotional distress is caused unintentionally. For example, seeing your child die at the hands of a drunk driver. You are impacted severely by witnessing what happened to someone else.
In this type of case you are required to show that you were a bystander (not directly involved) and the defendant’s negligent behavior caused an injury or death that has caused you immense emotional distress. As a bystander, you will have to be a close relative to some degree in order to file the claim, such as a domestic partner, spouse, parent, child, sibling, and the like.
NIED cases are more commonly filed in conjunction with IIED cases with NIED claims being added to the lawsuit.
Proving Emotional Abuse
How do you prove emotional abuse? With physical abuse, you can collect evidence of physical injury to prove your case. But what can you do with emotional abuse? How can you prove that someone has harmed you mentally?
A lot of the time, these cases can come down to a he-said-she-said sort of situation. And it is important to be able to prove intent. This can be done by showing that there is a pattern of abuse, maybe by looking at the bigger picture.
Things like emails and text messages, medical records, eyewitness accounts, video or audio recordings, testimony of medical professionals, journal entries, and even physical injuries, such as signs of emotional trauma. Plus, most emotional distress cases will require expert testimony from psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists, doctors, and more. You can work along with these mental health experts to try and prove your case.
What Damages Can You Recover?
Once you have effectively proven your emotional abuse case, what damages can you expect to recover? Believe it or not, you may be entitled to economic damages, non-economic damages, and punitive damages.
- Economic damages. These damages include compensation for financial losses due to the emotional abuse, such as medical bills, mediations, lost wages, etc.
- Non-economic damages. Perhaps more commonly sought damages are those that do not have a dollar amount assigned to them, such as pain and suffering, mental anguish, PTSD, and so forth.
- Punitive damages. In an IIED case, plaintiffs can recover punitive damages, which is a means of punishing the wrongdoer for their actions.
How An Attorney Can Help
Suing in an emotional abuse case and trying to push through it without legal representation can be dangerous – especially if the defendant has an attorney. Undergoing extensive emotional abuse can leave you vulnerable and fragile when going head to head with your abuser. It can also stir up unexpected emotions. Combining this with legal proceedings in a courtroom is never a good idea.
Hiring an attorney allows you to have someone represent your best interest without having to carry the load yourself. Plus, you can rest easy knowing that your attorney will be fighting to maximize your financial compensation so that you get what you deserve.
Before you take the next step in seeking compensation for the emotional abuse you suffered, be sure to hire an attorney.
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