The EEOC declined to set aside a $300,000 emotional distress award due to an untimely appeal by the agency. [1] Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress ("NIED") is the other prominent cause of action based on emotional harm. As with emotional pain and suffering, mental anguish refers to conditions including depression, anxiety, fright, grief and other significant emotional trauma. Emotional Distress Examples. One is an emotional reaction to a physical injury, and the other is distress caused by outrageous and uncivilized behavior that most reasonable people find unacceptable. This case is significant in that it raised the issue as to whether bodily harm is an essential component in cases of intentional or reckless infliction of emotional distress. Mental anguish and emotional distress are closely related in the context of a personal injury case. All that said here are some cases that discuss emotional distress damages awarded to federal employees in cases before the EEOC: Gay v. Department of the Navy, EEOC Appeal No. As with the underlying case law that guides negligent infliction of emotional distress claims, states differ on how damages are awarded in such claims. Emotional distress damages are not available in disparate impact (unintentional discrimination) cases or in mixed-motive cases (where the employer had both legitimate and discriminatory reasons for taking an action against you (for example, firing you) and the employer can show it still would have fired you even in the absence of discrimination); Co. of Am., 97 AD3d at 565-566; McGovern v Nassau County Dept. Furthermore, these cases all ultimately rely, either directly or indirectly, upon cases that deal exclusively with intentional infliction of emotional distress (see Rodgers v City of New York, 106 AD3d at 1070; Ural v Encompass Ins. Intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED; sometimes called the tort of outrage) is a common law tort that allows individuals to recover for severe emotional distress caused by another individual who intentionally or recklessly inflicted emotional distress by behaving in an "extreme and outrageous" way. Emotional distress refers to the victim’s emotional response to the accident and/or injuries, such as fear, sadness, anxiety, depression or grief. Depending on the case, the psychological and emotional trauma alone, resulting from cases like sexual abuse or defamation can be grounds for an emotional distress claim. In some cases, however -- particularly, cases alleging negligent (rather than intentional) infliction of emotional distress, courts will typically require some sort of physical injury as well. Ms. Agis won the case, thus establishing a precedent for the acceptance of this degree of anguish, despite an absence of physical symptoms. The more intense the mental anguish, the better chance you have of proving that your emotional distress was severe enough to deserve compensation. In Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell,1322 the Court applied the New York Times v. Sullivan standard to recovery of damages by public officials and public figures for the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress. Mental Anguish and Emotional Distress. Duration. [2]DAN B. DOBBS, THE LAW OF TORTS § 303, at 826 (2000). However, recent cases have allowed for victims to recover emotional distress damages without evidence of physical harm. These two examples show two different kinds of emotional harm in physical injury cases and distress cases. Generally, payment of damages for NIED claims should be proportional to the seriousness of the emotional injury. Emotional Distress Tort Actions. Emotional distress is the other main category for noneconomic damages. 07A20089 (October 9, 2003). 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