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• Texas Supreme Court Narrows The Gap On Emotional Distress Claims ( January 2005 )
  Ryan  Griffitts of Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons, LLP

  This past August, the Texas Supreme Court issued a ruling that will give employers an added measure of protection from large jury verdicts in employment discrimination and harassment cases.

• Recovery of Non-Economic Damages in Delayed Diagnosis of Cancer Cases ( November 1998 )
  William J. Brady and Lisa K. Mayers of Grimshaw & Harring, P.C.

  Physicians in Colorado may be liable for emotional distress damages if they fall below the legal standard of care in failing to aggressively pursue and definitively diagnose symptoms of cancer or other life-threatening diseases in a timely and responsible manner. So long as an increased risk of harm develops from the unchecked growth of cancer [even though the risk is unlikely to materialize], medical malpractice plaintiffs in Colorado have a cause of action for emotional distress resulting from a delayed diagnosis.

• Less Is More: New Jersey Supreme Court Lowers Evidentiary Threshold for Recovery of Emotional Distress Damages in Sexual Harassment Cases ( September 2004 )
  Jessica S. Boar of Littler Mendelson, P.C.

  On August 9, 2004, in Tarr v. Ciasulli, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that victims of workplace sexual harassment who seek emotional distress damages under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination ("LAD") should be held to a "far less stringent standard of proof" than that required for a tort-based intentional infliction of emotional distress claim. In contrast to the tort standard, which requires a plaintiff to demonstrate a severe emotional or physical ailment, a plaintiff's testimony of temporary humiliation is sufficient for a LAD emotional distress claim to reach a jury.

• Unexpected Tax Consequences Of State Harassment And Discrimination Cases ( September 2003 )
  Karen  Sutherland of Ogden Murphy Wallace, P.L.L.C.

  In 2003, the Washington State Court of Appeals expanded collectible damages by workers who sue employers for discrimination or harassment to include an award to compensate the employee for taxes on the other damages that the employee receives. Unless it is overturned, this new decision is important not only for cases that go to court, but also for placing a value on employee's claims in administrative proceedings, such as Human Rights Commission complaints.

• Jackson Lewis:The Connnecticut Employer ( April 2000 )
  Jackson Lewis, LLP

  This bulletin discusses various labor & employment issues including how the courts have disagreed on the reach of negligent infliction of emotional distress claims; workers' compensation law bars injury claim based on employer's absenteeism policy and how the attorney-client privilege protects former supervisor's communications with former employer's counsel.

• Mental Anguish Claims In Property Damage Cases ( March 2000 )
  Larry W. Johnson of Cowles & Thompson

  This article reviews whether mental anguish claims are recoverable in property damage cases.

• Disability Discrimination Can Give Rise To Emotional Distress Tort Claim As Well ( December 2000 )
  Ellen  Kitzmiller of Parsons Behle & Latimer

  In a recent decision, Utah Federal District Court Judge Dale Kimball sustained two employees' claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress against their former employer. The lawsuit was filed by a husband and wife who both worked for the same employer. They alleged that the employer's treatment of them after learning that the husband had AIDS was so callous and manipulative as to be actionable under the very high standard governing Utah's common-law tort of "outrage."

• SUPREME COURT WATCH--The Misdiagnosis Of AIDS: Damages Without Physical Injury? ( December 2000 )
  White and Williams LLP

  Isn?t it the hope of everyone who receives a grave diagnostic test result that maybe the lab made a mistake? In those rare instances when the bad news turns out to have been an error, most patients are gratefully relieved. Some, however, are angry, and want the lab to pay for the anxiety, depression, and other consequences they?ve had to go through. Can they do that?

• Pennsylvania Ruling: Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress ( September 2000 )
  

  This month, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania issued an opinion clarifying the requirements for a claim of intenti.