Comparing between intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress
Stress is a part of life. People in our lives present us with so many things that stress us, and this may be one of them. A person stressing you out with their behaviour is not enough to sue for emotional distress, right, unless this behaviour falls under the category of emotional abuse. Emotional distress, however, is different in legal terms. Given that when we speak about the legal term emotional distress, we refer to the emotional distress that a certain event and another person’s carelessness caused.
Heading these four categories, we have the question, can you sue for emotional distress?
Yes, New York courts recognize two claims for emotional distress:
- Tort of outrage, psychological harm,
- Negligent infliction of emotional distress (NIED)
Every one of these claims has certain aspects that should be established in order to obtain damages, and there is a lawyer at Siler & Ingber like the several other lawyers on our team, who would be able to explain it and discuss with you which claim fits your case best.
Ways on How to File a Claim of Intentional Tort – IIED
In similar cases, in order to be granted a claim for IIED one needs to prove that another person inflicted pain deliberately and caused severe emotional suffering arising from extreme conduct. This behaviour must go beyond everyday irksome incidents that have become normalcy in our day to day life.
Examples of IIED can include:
- Racial insults
- Sex discrimination
- False imprisonment and,
- Behaviour that is undermining to your physical well-being
Proof Beyond Prejudice and Partiality
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress For this kind of claim to be made it has to be an act of sensational indecency. But in order to reach these damages, the injured party does not have to have continuous physical abuse.
How to File a Claim for NIED
In order to prove an action in negligence one would have to show that the defendant’s actions caused distress while to lay down a claim for NIED, mental suffering must exist. Usually there are some sort of physical harm or damage that accompany mental harm when making this kind of claim. For instance, the heads could be claiming for emotional distress because they sustained injuries from an auto crash occasioned by the negligence of another person.
Negligent acts in this kind of case could include:
- Texting and driving
- Disregarding a red light
- Proceeding with their journey without following traffic signals.
This is the Zone of Danger Rule in New York.
New York in particular, is different from many other states in that it recognizes the “zone of danger” rule. That is, an individual may be able to sue for negligence for witnessing an accident that involved a member of the immediate family. This rule allows an individual who was in peril of experiencing personal injury to suffer negligent infliction of emotional harm since they had to view the death or serious injury of a family member.
In order to establish a claim under the “zone of danger” rule, the plaintiff must prove the following:
- This is because there was a likelihood that the plaintiff itself or another of their family members could have been ideally or fatally injured in the accident.
- It must be the case that, during the time that the complaint was filed, the plaintiff was aware of the fatal or serious injury to their loved one.
- The injury was received by the member of immediate family of the plaintiff which may be parent, child or a sibling.
- The plaintiff must also have endured a physical or emotional shock because of witnessing that accident
Total Legal Experience That May Be Useful to Our Clients
At Siler & Ingber, our team is focused on helping you get the compensation you deserve for the emotional distress you’ve endured. We also strive to make the legal process as stress-free as possible. Call us today for more information about how our Manhattan Construction Accidents Lawyer can assist you in filing your emotional distress claim.