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Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress Lawsuit

Intentional Torts : Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress

Negligent infliction of emotional distress (NIED) is a cause of action which arises from the plaintiff’s involvement in an event, which caused negligent injury to another person whom the plaintiff has a close personal relationship with.  To allege a cause of action for negligent infliction of emotional distress, the plaintiff must suffer a physical injury which was caused by a psychological trauma resulting from event.  Determining causation of the physical injury is a factual question which Florida courts decide on a case by case basis. 

To recover damages for negligent infliction of emotional distress, the plaintiff must demonstrate the elements of the “impact rule”:

• The emotional stress flowed from a direct physical injury resulting from defendant’s negligent act; or
• The physical injury resulted from the plaintiff’s mental distress caused by the defendant’s negligent act;

Additionally, the emotional distress must result from both:

• Fear for one’s own safety; and
• Distress caused by anxiety about the safety of another.

Florida courts will apply the impact rule when the cause of action involves purely emotional damages because the emotional harm is too difficult to prove as a source of injury.  The courts will apply the impact rule for validity of the negligent infliction of emotional distress claim.

To prove causation for recovery in an action for NIED the plaintiff’s physical injury must be caused by psychological trauma.  Temporal proximity between the psychological trauma and the causally connected physical impairment is not an absolute inflexible requirement for recovery for NIED.  Rather, temporal proximity should be used simply as a relevant factor to be considered in the trier of fact’s determination of the causal connection between the trauma and the physical injury.

If you believe you have experienced emotional distress due to a traumatizing event, the West Palm Beach plaintiff attorneys of Sharmin & Sharmin P.A. are here to help you.  We offer a free consultation and will work hard to get you the recovery you deserve.  Call 1-800-74-TRIAL.

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