When you are in an accident, and you break your leg, you can go to the doctor, who will hopefully be able to mend it. While it may be inconvenient for you, you will be able to walk again in a few weeks. Similarly, if someone breaks your phone and buys you a new one, then your property has been restored, and you can go about your day. However, what happens when you are in an accident and you experience something harder to understand or see, such as mental anguish?
People can experience extreme emotional trauma because of a personal injury or traumatic event. In these cases, people often wonder if they can recover any money for mental pain and anguish. Our Arlington, TX personal injury lawyer discusses. The Texas Supreme Court set forth the standard for evidence of mental anguish damages in the case of Parkway Co. v. Woodruff, 901 S.W.2d 434 (Tex. 1995). Under that standard, the Court made it a requirement that for a person to recover for mental anguish damages, they must prove that they have mental anguish by: “direct evidence of the nature, duration, and severity of their mental anguish, thus establishing a substantial disruption in the plaintiffs’ daily routine.”
For a free, confidential case assessment, contact our Texas personal injury lawyers with The Queenan Law Firm by calling (817) 476-1797.
Recovering Compensation for Traumatic Events & Anguish in Texas
This can be a hard task for people who have experienced mental trauma. In the case of City of Tyler v. Adeline Likes, the Supreme Court of Texas articulated its concern for mental anguish. The court began by noting that Texas does not recognize a general legal duty to avoid negligently inflicting mental anguish. While negligently inflicted anguish may be an element of recoverable damages when the defendant violates some other duty to the plaintiff, this depends on both the nature of the duty breached and the quality of proof offered by the plaintiff. For many breaches of legal duties, even tortuous ones, the law affords no right to recover for resulting mental anguish.
The court seemed to struggle with whether mental anguish from this sort of conduct should be something for which a person could seek monetary compensation. The court noted that although mental anguish is a real and serious harm, there are two principal reasons why courts are not willing to recognize it as a compensable element of damages in every case where it occurs.
First, mental anguish is difficult to predict. This is partially why it can be very difficult for a person to seek recovery for mental anguish and pain. The court noted that the invasion of the same legal right may lead to extreme anguish in one person while causing essentially no emotional damage to another person. The court was reluctant to extend such a broad sweeping ability for a person to recover for mental anguish because of this variation in human nature and behavior. The law aims to provide similarly situated people the same treatment; therefore, it is difficult for the law to distinguish between those instances when mental anguish is reasonably foreseeable from particular conduct and those when it is so remote that the law should impose no duty to prevent it. For this reason, Texas courts at one time categorized mental anguish in most types of cases as too remote or speculative to be compensable as actual damages, holding the emotional consequences of the tort relevant only to exemplary damages.
Second, even in circumstances where mental anguish is a foreseeable result of wrongful conduct, its existence is inherently difficult to verify. For years, the fear of false claims led us to require objective bodily symptoms of anguish in most types of cases.
In 2011, the Texas Supreme Court again addressed the issue of mental anguish. It required that whenever mental anguish damages are sought a person would be required to prove the direct evidence standard that was established in the Parkway case. However, while it can be much more difficult to establish emotional trauma in other areas of the law, personal injury is a field where it can be easier for a person to recover for emotional pain and mental anguish. This is because when there is a personal injury case, there is often the fear that a person is going to die, and this can be naturally very traumatic for a person.
What is Considered Mental Anguish in a Texas Civil Case?
Non-economic damages, such as those for mental anguish, are inherently subjective. They vary from plaintiff to plaintiff and are often unrelated to money. How a trier of fact, like the judge or jury, determines the value of these damages, or what even constitutes mental anguish, may depend on how we present evidence of your claims.
Mental anguish may derive from the sheer trauma of an accident. While some people are able to brush off accidents and move on, others cannot so easily find closure. This is more common in cases of especially severe or near-death accidents and experiences. For example, you might have been so badly injured in a serious car accident that doctors were unsure you were going to survive. Drivers who make it through such accidents often live with psychological trauma, anxiety, fear, and severe mental anguish.
Perhaps your mental anguish is not rooted in the accident itself but in what it cost you. Your injuries might come with lifelong complications or disabilities, affecting your quality of life. You might have to give up your career or independence. You might have lost a loved one in the accident. Your grief, sorrow, and overall loss may factor heavily into non-economic damages for mental anguish.
Scarring and disfigurement may also inflict much mental anguish. Even if your scarring or physical disfigurements do not constate a disability, it can be psychologically or emotionally difficult to come to terms with how your body and appearance have been altered.
How to Show Evidence of Mental Anguish in Your Texas Case
Once we understand the extent of your mental anguish and where it stems from, we can begin gathering evidence to prove your claims for damages. Since mental anguish is often rooted in psychological trauma, we should consider having you evaluated by a mental health professional, like a psychiatrist or therapist. Their testimony may shed light on just how much you have suffered mentally, emotionally, and psychologically.
Your own testimony might also be crucial. Since mental anguish and other non-economic damages are often unique to each plaintiff, only you may testify about how your anguish and pain have affected your life. Mental anguish is something that cannot really be quantified, but you can take the stand and describe it the best way you know how. In many cases, juries are very moved by a plaintiff’s testimony about their mental anguish.
Additionally, we should gather any facts surrounding the issue of your mental anguish. Was the defendant’s behavior especially egregious or offensive? Did the defendant intend to hurt you? Did you lose your job, relationships, or reputation? These provable facts may shed light on how the accident and the defendant’s actions affected your life and caused mental anguish.
How Damages for Mental Anguish May Be Evaluated in Texas
Since mental anguish and other non-economic damages are subjective and unique to each plaintiff, evaluating them is tough. There are rarely receipts or bills that can help us determine how much financial compensation a plaintiff’s mental anguish might be worth. As such, courts have developed ways to assess these kinds of damages. Below are two common methods courts employ when determining damages for mental anguish and other non-economic injuries.
Per Diem Method
The per diem method calculates non-economic damages based on their duration. Generally, a trier of fact may determine a specific dollar amount to assign to each day that a non-economic injury like mental anguish persisted. The longer these painful experiences last, the more compensation a plaintiff might recover. For example, suppose a jury decides that your mental anguish is worth $100 per day. Next, suppose that your attorney presents convincing evidence that you experienced serious mental anguish for an entire year after the accident, a total of 365 days. In that case, your mental anguish claims may be evaluated at $36,500. If your anguish were more severe, we might urge for a greater dollar value to be assigned to each day.
Multiplier Method
Another option courts often use is the multiplier method. Under this method, a trier of fact may assign a multiplier number to the plaintiff’s economic damages award to determine their non-economic damages award. Usually, the number is something between 1.5 and 5. The more severe your mental anguish, the higher the multiplier number may be, and the greater your damages award. For example, suppose you claim $10,000 in economic damages, and your attorney argues for a multiplier number of at least 3. In that case, your non-economic damages, including those for mental anguish, may be valued at $30,000. Again, these determinations are highly subjective, and we must have evidence backing up your claims to convince a jury to award you fair damages.
Limits on Non-Economic Damages for Mental Anguish in Texas
In Texas, non-economic damages, including for mental anguish, are generally not capped by statute. Most injury claims (e.g., car accidents, slip-and-falls, bike accidents) involve non-economic damages that are essentially unlimited. However, this is not true in every possible case. There may be caps on non-economic damages in medical malpractice claims.
According to Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 74.301(a), an award for non-economic damages against a healthcare provider or physician other than an institution (e.g., a hospital) is capped at $250,000. Under subsection (b), non-economic damages awards against a single healthcare institution are also capped at $250,000. Under subsection (c), when a final judgment is rendered against more than one healthcare institution, non-economic damages are capped at $250,000 per institution. Also, the limit for all healthcare institutions together is capped at $500,000.
Case Examples of Mental Anguish Compensation
Texas courts have found in several cases that a person could recover for mental anguish. The following are some examples of the extreme and outrageous behavior that has led to people suffering mental anguish.
In the case of Service Corp. Internat’l v. Guerra, 348 S.W.3d 221 (Tex. 2011), a woman was allowed to recover for mental anguish when she suffered sleepless nights as a result of her husband’s grave being tampered with, burning in her stomach, continued headaches, and suffered from intense periods of worrying and anxiety. Similarly, in the case of Fifth Club, Inc. v. Ramirez, 196 S.W.3d 788 (Tex. 2006), where a man was severely injured by heaving his head slammed into a concrete wall during a fight, the Texas Supreme Court found that there was sufficient evidence to support a claim for mental anguish. In subsequent cases, the Supreme Court has similarly concluded that the severity of a particular personal injury gives the jury a reasonable basis for finding future mental anguish damages.
Let the Dallas Personal Injury Lawyers at The Queenan Law Firm Fight for You
Call our Dallas personal injury attorneys at The Queenan Law Firm at (817) 476-1797 for a free initial case review. Representing clients in Arlington, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and throughout the state of Texas with Personal Injury, Divorce, Family Law, Construction Accidents, and Business Litigation.