Can You Sue for Emotional Harm Caused by Intentional Actions in Wisconsin?

 Posted on April 15, 2021 in Victimology

If you were harmed by someone else’s intentional actions, you may be able to assert your rights, hold the wrongdoer accountable, and recover damages through a civil claim. Personal injury claims often involve injuries caused by negligence or carelessness such as car accident injuries. However, a personal injury claim may also be brought by someone who is injured intentionally. Victimology is the area of law that deals with personal injury claims for victims of assault, abuse, and other forms of intentional harm. A victimology claim may allow you to recover financial compensation for emotional distress and other damages.

Suing for Physical Injuries and Emotional Distress

A personal injury claim is a civil claim that an injured person may use to collect monetary compensation for “damages” or losses that the injured person sustained because of the injury. Damages usually include financial losses such as medical bills and lost income from missed work. Damages may also include non-financial harm caused by the injury including physical pain, mental suffering, and emotional distress. In most personal injury claims, compensation for non-financial damages, such as mental and emotional distress, are only available if the person suffered a physical injury. For example, if a person suffered a broken nose during an assault and battery, that person may be compensated for emergency room bills as well as the pain and suffering he or she endured because of the broken nose.

Suing for Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress

There are some situations in which a person may be entitled to compensation for emotional distress even if he or she did not sustain a physical injury. Wisconsin law recognizes two different types of emotional distress claims: negligent infliction of emotional distress and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The standard for recovering compensation for emotional distress without a physical injury is much higher than the standard for recovering compensation with a physical injury. To have a valid claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress, you must show that:

• The defendant’s actions were “extreme and outrageous.”
• The defendant intended to cause emotional harm.
• The defendant’s actions were the cause of the plaintiff’s emotional distress.
• The plaintiff experienced emotional distress that was “extreme and disabling.”

Contact a Milwaukee County Victimology Lawyer

If you or a loved one were the victim of assault, sexual assault, battery, or another form of intentional harm, you may be able to hold the perpetrator accountable through a personal injury claim. These types of claims differ significantly from personal injury claims based on negligence. Waukesha County personal injury attorney Paul Bucher of Bucher Law Group, LLC is one of the few attorneys in Wisconsin who handle victimology cases. Call Bucher Law Group, LLC at 262-303-4916 for a free, confidential consultation to learn more.

Sources:

http://revistajuridica.uprrp.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/85-Rev.-Jur.-127-2016.pdf

https://wilawlibrary.gov/jury/files/civil/2725.pdf