187 results for 'cat:"Emotional Distress"'.
J. Suarez finds sufficient evidence supported the lower court's decision in favor of the business owner on her emotional distress claims against the neighbor who photographed and tracked her movements after he suspected she was running a transportation business without a license, including the owner's testimony the neighbor conducted surveillance for more than two years before he submitted a complaint to the city's zoning committee. Additionally, testimony the owner complained to police at least 15 times and her raising her middle finger towards the neighbor's cameras on several occasions alerted the neighbor it was likely his actions would cause emotional distress and satisfied all elements of the claims. Affirmed.
Court: Connecticut Court Of Appeals, Judge: Suarez, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: AC45775, Categories: Evidence, emotional Distress, Privacy
J. Lee finds that the lower court finds that the lower court improperly found in favor of the professor on his emotional distress counterclaims against a another professor who accused him of sexual assault in online posts, assessing damages of $700,000. No reasonable jury could find that the defendant professor acted in an outrageous manner by posting comments intended to inform students of the professor's notorious reputation. However, there is sufficient evidence that an accusing student's knowingly false allegations of rape are outrageous enough to support an emotional distress claim for $100,000. Reversed in part.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Lee, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 23-1960, Categories: emotional Distress
J. Doty partially grants the wire service's motion to dismiss the oil and gas company founder's suit alleging that a story the wire service published incorrectly implied that he had been convicted of criminal activity rather than saying that he had been held civilly liable. It would be premature to determine on the current record whether the founder is a limited-purpose public figure, but he has nevertheless plausibly alleged actual malice. He has adequately pleaded defamation, defamation per se and defamation by implication, but has abandoned an intentional infliction of emotional distress claim.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Doty, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 0:23cv2983, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Defamation, emotional Distress
[Consolidated.] J. Knepp grants the employer's motion for judgment on the pleadings, ruling that because none of the allegations of misconduct made by the employees against their supervisors implicate conduct covered under Title VII, the employees failed to establish a prima facie case for Title VII whistleblower retaliation. Meanwhile, the emotional distress claims must also be dismissed because the complaint contains only vague and conclusory statements that fall short of establishing a serious emotional injury.
Court: USDC Northern District of Ohio, Judge: Knepp, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv1188, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Evidence, emotional Distress, Employment Retaliation
J. Starr finds that an employee who alleges that the owner of the company she worked for sexually harassed her on a daily basis and then fired her for not deleting harassing text messages he sent to her is entitled to back pay and compensatory damages in a default judgment. The employee’s pleading and the merits of her case are sufficient to meet required standards for a default judgment award. However, punitive damages are denied because, in total, with compensatory and back pay, the damages would exceed statutory limits.
Court: USDC Northern District of Texas , Judge: Starr, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv1181, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, emotional Distress, Employment Discrimination
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J. Trauger denies the fencing defendants' motions to compel arbitration of the claims in this lawsuit alleging that a fencing student was sexually abused by her fencing coach while the student was a minor. The U.S. Fencing Association, which is the "national governing body for the sport," contends that the organization's membership waiver contains an arbitration clause. However, as the plaintiffs argue, the organization litigated the case "for nearly a year before ever raising the issue of arbitration." The court concludes that the governing organization acted inconsistently "with an intention to arbitrate."
Court: USDC Middle District of Tennessee , Judge: Trauger, Filed On: April 2, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv560, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Arbitration, Civil Procedure, emotional Distress
J. Ballou denies the university's motion to dismiss. The former student claims that she suffered sexual abuse at the hands of a university professor and that the university breached its duties under Title IX to investigate her complaints. The university eventually began an investigation under Title IX which ultimately led to the professor resigning, but the investigation took nearly 500 days to complete.
Court: USDC Western District of Virginia, Judge: Ballou, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv18, Categories: Education, emotional Distress
J. Zimmerer finds that the trial court properly granted the city's plea to the jurisdiction in a suit brought by the girlfriend of Mike Ramos, who was shot and killed by an Austin police officer in an incident following a 911 call that claimed a man and woman were in a car using drugs. The decedent's girlfriend failed to show a waiver of governmental immunity since her negligent infliction of emotional distress claim is "based on the commission of an intentional tort." Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Zimmerer, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 14-23-00241-CV, Categories: Immunity, emotional Distress, Jurisdiction
J. Eaton finds the trial court properly granted summary judgment to Comcast, a cable company and a flagging company in this negligent infliction of emotional distress, negligence and loss of consortium claims brought by a wife and husband. The wife alleges she suffered PTSD and depression after she witnessed the cable company’s truck back up, hitting a flagger and crushing his skull. The husband alleges loss of consortium for having to care for the wife after the incident. The wife’s claims fail as a matter of law, and the husband’s claim is derivative of these failed claims. Affirmed.
Court: Vermont Supreme Court, Judge: Eaton, Filed On: March 22, 2024, Case #: 23-AP-086, Categories: Negligence, emotional Distress
J. Earls finds that the trial court properly ruled in favor of the alleged paramour in this complaint brought by a former husband alleging alienation of affection. The former husband failed to show that his former wife and her coworker were romantically involved prior to the marital separation. Affirmed.
Court: North Carolina Supreme Court, Judge: Earls, Filed On: March 22, 2024, Case #: 294A22, Categories: Family Law, emotional Distress
J. Daniel partially grants Loyola University’s motion to dismiss a Title IX suit brought by a group of students who say the university mishandled and underreported their claims of sexual harassment on campus. The students’ complaint also accuses the university of failing to prevent sexual assault by repeat offenders and publishing false campus sexual assault statistics, and brings claims for fraud, premises liability, contract breach, negligence, emotional distress and violations of the Illinois Preventing Sexual Violence in Higher Education Act. The court dismisses all of these counts as well as a Jane Doe’s Title IX claims, citing, among other arguments, a lack of evidence and failure to state a claim. The remaining plaintiffs’ Title IX claims survive.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Daniel, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv6476, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Education, emotional Distress
J. Bolden grants, in part, the employer's motion to dismiss, ruling the employee's termination alone is insufficient to establish either negligent or intentional infliction of emotional distress claims, especially considering the employer merely enforced its drug policy when it discovered the employee used prescription painkillers and marijuana to alleviate back pain.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Bolden, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv1054, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: emotional Distress, Employment Discrimination
J. Meyer denies Home Depot's motion to dismiss, ruling the emotional harms suffered by the black woman who was falsely accused of being a thief and a getaway driver while in a store parking lot are sufficient to constitute a concrete harm and establish jurisdiction for her emotional distress claims. Although being accused of theft is not inherently racist, the employee used the words "you people" and "nigger" during his tirade, which is conduct sufficient to allow the emotional distress claims to proceed.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Meyer, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv415, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Evidence, emotional Distress, Jurisdiction
J. Johnston grants a number of Illinois State Police officers’ motion for summary judgment, and partially grants Rockford and its police officers' motion for summary judgment, on a slew of civil rights, conspiracy, emotional distress and due process claims brought by a man who spent 23 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. The man claims police fabricated evidence and coerced testimony against him, and similarly withheld evidence that might have helped his case. The court absolves the Illinois State Police from their role in the alleged conspiracy against the wrongly convicted man, but allows his due process and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims stand against all but two of the implicated Rockford police, who are dismissed from the suit. The man’s indemnification claim against Rockford itself also stands.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Johnston, Filed On: March 11, 2024, Case #: 3:18cv50040, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: emotional Distress, Due Process, Police Misconduct
J. Weksler grants the former employee's motion for sanctions. The employee brings claims against AutoZone for sexual discrimination arising from his manager's sexual advances, including taunting the employee with a dildo and masturbating out of range of the store's surveillance cameras. The employee seeks sanctions against AutoZone due to surveillance video showing certain events having been overwritten. Sanctions are appropriate for spoilation, and the court will preclude AutoZone from arguing the video did not corroborate allegations but will allow it to argue it did not show any masturbation.
Court: USDC Nevada, Judge: Weksler , Filed On: March 11, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv316, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Sanctions, emotional Distress, Employment Discrimination
J. Campbell mostly denies the Southern Baptist Convention's motion to dismiss in this defamation lawsuit stemming from a "highly publicized report" that allegedly featured the former president of the Southern Baptist Convention in a misleading way. The Southern Baptist Convention fails to show that the former president was a limited-purpose public figure, as nothing in the complaint suggests that he voluntarily injected himself into a sexual abuse controversy or the events surrounding the report. However, his defamation per se is dismissed as duplicative of his defamation claim.
Court: USDC Middle District of Tennessee , Judge: Campbell, Filed On: March 8, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv243, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Defamation, emotional Distress
J. Tijerina finds the lower court properly granted summary judgment to the bar in this lawsuit filed by a patron asserting claims for slander and intentional infliction of emotional distress after he was allegedly removed from the premises by a bouncer based on a complaint by another patron. The bar sufficiently established its qualified privilege defense, as the communication at issue was made by the bar's employees and there was no evidence of malice. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Tijerina, Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: 13-22-00287-CV, Categories: Defamation, emotional Distress
J. Watson grants the sheriff's department's motion for summary judgment, ruling that while the term "ho juice" - used by the male officer when talking about the female dispatcher's perfume - may be considered sexist in isolation, it was made to both male and female coworkers and does not prove a discriminatory intent or support the dispatcher's hostile work environment claim. Additionally, there is no indication the male officer struck the dispatcher on the shoulder because she was pregnant or female, and so that incident also cannot be used to support the hostile work environment claim.
Court: USDC Southern District of Ohio, Judge: Watson, Filed On: March 6, 2024, Case #: 2:21cv203, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, emotional Distress
J. Gorton allows the majority of claims against public school district officials, teachers and a town to be dismissed. One teacher repeatedly physically and emotionally abused her very young, disabled students, and two of her students demonstrated the severity and long-lasting impact of the abuse enough to prevent the dismissal of their claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Other suing students did not show the severity necessary to support their intentional infliction of emotional distress claims. Additionally, the other teachers, officials and the town are not shown to have been responsible for the abuse.
Court: USDC Massachusetts, Judge: Gorton, Filed On: March 4, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv11170, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, emotional Distress, Assault
J. Grosjean denies, in part, a sheriff department’s motion for summary judgment on an individual’s claims arising from his arrest. There are questions of fact regarding his claims for assault, battery, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Court: USDC Eastern District of California, Judge: Grosjean, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 1:17cv1446, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: emotional Distress, Assault, Police Misconduct
J. Houston grants San Diego State University's anti-SLAPP motion to strike the student's state claims over disciplinary measures that were taken against him alleging that he participated in fraternity hazing. The negligence claims fail because the disciplinary charges were dropped with no negative remarks on his transcript and the student was able to graduate, so he did not suffer damages. His emotional distress claim fails because he provides only conclusory statements to support his allegations.
Court: USDC Southern District of California, Judge: Houston, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv2131, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Anti-slapp, Negligence, emotional Distress
J. Seeger grants Netflix and the defendant documentarians’ motion to dismiss nearly two dozen tort, defamation, conspiracy, unjust enrichment and privacy claims brought by a woman who briefly appeared in a 2003 Kanye West music video, asking him for spare change. The woman claimed that when she appeared in the video she was at her lowest; in her complaint’s words, “broke, impoverished, disheveled, and desperate.” Clips of her from that time were included in the 2022 Netflix documentary series “Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy,"” and she resented how she was represented in the series. However, the court finds that despite the unflattering representation, it was not materially false and thus not defamation, and further opines that she has not sufficiently alleged the rest of her claims.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Seeger, Filed On: February 27, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv2392, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Defamation, emotional Distress, Privacy
J. Xinis grants a homeowner’s motion for summary judgment and denies a merger mortgage company’s cross motion for summary judgment in this RESPA case regarding money owed on a mortgage. The homeowner alleges he has suffered from emotional distress stemming from a form sent to credit reporting agencies, and a reasonable juror could find that he did in fact suffer the emotional distress. The court agrees with the lender, that the borrower may not seek statutory damages.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Xinis, Filed On: February 22, 2024, Case #: 8:19cv2797, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Property, emotional Distress, Banking / Lending