If you’ve faced workplace discrimination, harassment, or other behavior prohibited by federal and state law, you may be eligible to file an employment lawsuit. You may be eligible to seek damages for emotional distress at work if your employer’s actions led to significant psychological harm.
Proving your case meets the legal thresholds required to win workplace emotional distress damages can be challenging. A skilled employment lawyer can assist you by evaluating your circumstances, collecting critical evidence, and fighting to prove you deserve compensation.
Complete our contact form today and learn your rights from the award-winning employment lawyers at Joseph & Norinsberg.
What Is Emotional Distress at Work?
In an employment lawsuit, emotional distress damages compensate you for psychological harm as a result of serious or pervasive violations of laws that protect workers. You may be eligible for compensation for the intentional infliction of emotional distress based on statutes such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Alternatively, the broader New York State Human Rights Law or New York City Human Rights Law might apply, depending on where the conduct occurred. These laws provide paths to damages for more protected groups than Title VII and have lower thresholds for what constitutes harm.
Behaviors that can cause emotional distress include the following:
- Workplace bullying: This includes repeated verbal abuse or humiliation.
- Harassment or discrimination: Racial, sexual, age-based, or disability-related harassment that may include obscene gestures or sexual comments and includes same-sex harassment, harassment by coworkers, or harassment by supervisors. Title VII and New York state and city laws define protected classes of people who can sue for damages.
- Toxic work environment: A hostile work environment can result from constant conflict, poor communication, and a lack of psychological safety.
- Unreasonable workload or unfair pay: An employer cannot impose excessive demands, pay lower wages, or fire workers based on gender, race, religion, or other protected characteristics.
Normal Work Stress vs. Emotional Distress
There is a distinction between everyday work stress and anxiety and emotional distress that is actionable. In an employment lawsuit, you must prove that workplace conduct resulted in documented emotional harm that was serious, not minor.
For example, being annoyed by workplace behaviors is not actionable emotional distress. However, if you are diagnosed with anxiety or depression due to a hostile or discriminatory work environment, you can file an employment lawsuit and pursue damages for your emotional harm.
Title VII requires severe or pervasive harassment to establish a claim for damages for a hostile work environment claim. However, Section 296 of New York’s Human Rights Law and the NYC Civil Rights Law only require harassing conduct that rises above the level of “petty slights or trivial inconveniences.”
You must provide clear evidence of your damages. While journals and witness testimony are helpful, the best evidence of significant emotional distress comes from mental health professionals. Document all of your visits and diagnoses directly related to your job experiences.
What To Do if You're Suffering From Emotional Distress at Work
Everyone deserves a workplace free from harassment, discrimination, bullying, and other prohibited behaviors. But the reality is that harmful work environments still exist, and you may have to find ways to handle your resulting emotional distress.
Thankfully, you don’t have to do it alone.
Step 1: Take Care of Your Mental Health First
Consult a therapist, counselor, or doctor about your emotional distress. If necessary, take time off work to do so. You may be eligible for mental health days or medical leave if your employer offers these benefits.
Step 2: Document Everything
You need evidence to prove your employer knew or should have known of intentional behaviors that led to your resulting emotional distress. It can be challenging to recreate events later. Keep a journal or file with the following information:
- Dates of incidents
- What your employer or coworkers said or did
- Who was involved
- How the conduct has affected you
Step 3: Report the Problem Internally
Follow your company’s formal complaint process to report intimidating, harassing, or other behaviors. If there isn’t a process, speak with your manager or HR team. If you don’t feel safe reporting to a supervisor or have already reported and haven’t received a satisfactory response, go to HR.
Request your meetings in writing, keep all responses, and make notes about any conversations not already documented.
Step 4: File a Complaint With a Government Agency if Necessary
If your emotional distress is due to harassment, discrimination, or retaliation, you can file a complaint with government agencies, including:
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: For discrimination, harassment, or retaliation that violates federal law
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration: For unsafe or unhealthy work conditions that affect your mental health
- The New York City Commission on Human Rights Law Enforcement Bureau
- The New York State Division of Human Rights
Step 5: Talk to an Employment Lawyer
It can be challenging to prove the intentional infliction of emotional distress in the workplace. Choose an experienced employment lawyer with a background in cases involving state and federal violations of laws that protect workers.
A skilled attorney can do the following:
- Identifying workplace law violations
- Investigating and gathering evidence
- Interviewing witnesses
- Filing a complaint with the appropriate agency
- Negotiating with your employer for fair damages
- Litigating your case and representing you in court when necessary
Suing Your Employer and Pursuing Emotional Distress Damages
You can file an employment lawsuit on your own, but that is not advisable given the complexity of the law and the legal standards you must meet to prove intent and the extent of your harm.
You must prove the following two conditions to collect emotional distress damages in an employment lawsuit:
- Intentional or unlawful conduct: Your employer or coworkers engaged in unlawful behavior or intentional actions that go beyond normal workplace conduct. For example, constant or extreme demeaning comments based on race or a failure to promote based on refusing to trade sexual favors.
- Proof of emotional harm: You must demonstrate that the prohibited behaviors caused significant psychological harm, often by providing evidence of medical treatment or therapy.
Federal and state laws also protect you against retaliation for filing a complaint or supporting another worker who files a complaint under discrimination and human rights statutes. Talk to an experienced employment lawyer to discuss where, when, and how to file your claim so you don’t miss your chance at pursuing compensation.
Get Help With Your Workplace Emotional Distress Claim
Federal and state laws protect workers against mistreatment and harassment based on race, gender, disability, or other protected status. If your employer violated the law and caused emotional distress, you don’t have to suffer in silence.
At Joseph & Norinsberg, we have over 100 years of experience and a 98 percent success rate. Our New York employment lawyers provide compassionate representation and confidentiality. We understand the challenges associated with seeking damages for workplace harm. Employment lawsuits can be tricky, but we are here to help.
Don’t suffer in silence for another day. Contact us online or call 212-227-5700 today for a free consultation.
