Yes, if you have suffered any damages related to emotional abuse, then you can sue for emotional abuse in Pennsylvania. In Pennsylvania, emotional abuse can be considered a form of emotional distress, and there are legal avenues for seeking compensation related to emotional distress.
Generally speaking, emotional abuse occurs in situations where there is a power imbalance between two parties, and one party abuses another based on that imbalance. Emotional abuse can occur in various contexts, including:
- Domestic Relationships: Emotional abuse in domestic settings often includes behaviors such as gaslighting, manipulation, verbal insults, and threats, which can all have long-lasting impacts on the victim’s mental health and well-being
- Child Abuse: Emotional abuse involving children, such as verbal abuse, can affect their psychological development
- Care Facilities: In elder or other care facilities, emotional abuse, such as teasing, humiliating, degrading, or ignoring a resident, can result in emotional harm or injury to residents.
As can be seen, emotional abuse often leads to psychiatric injuries, including anxiety, depression, or other psychological symptoms. These psychological symptoms can then result in physical manifestations or long-lasting psychological damage.
Additionally, emotional abuse may also be accompanied by acts of physical violence, threats of violence, or sexual assaults.
Further, emotional abuse cycles can exist over long periods of time, which often result in greater psychological injuries to the victim over time. Depending on the circumstances of the emotional abuse that has occurred, you, as the victim of the abuse, may be able to sue your abuser for damages related to injuries you have suffered.
In Pennsylvania specifically, emotional abuse is also recognized as a form of domestic violence. Pennsylavania’s Protection From Abuse (“PFA”) Act includes provisions for protection against various forms of abuse, including emotional and psychological abuse.
In other words, victims of emotional abuse can also seek legal protection and remedies under the PFA Act, including prohibiting the abuser from contacting the victim or removing the abuser from a shared residence.
If you or someone you know are in a situation where there are indications of emotional abuse or if you know of a person suffering from emotional abuse, you should always report such abuse.
Does Emotional Abuse Need to Be Reported?
As mentioned above, you should always report any suspicions or acts of emotional abuse. This is because emotional abuse is also often related to child abuse, elder abuse, or domestic violence, which are all illegal in numerous states under various state emotional abuse laws.
Many of those state laws make reporting emotional abuse mandatory in certain cases. As such, failure to timely report evidence of emotional abuse may be considered a crime in and of itself. However, in Pennsylvania, mandatory reporting for emotional abuse is dependent on the specific case and the individuals involved:
- Child Abuse: In cases of emotional abuse of children, such acts must be reported by mandated reporters, which include teachers, healthcare professionals, and social workers
- All of the above reporters are legally required to report any suspected abuse to ChildLine, Pennsylvania’s child abuse hotline
- Anyone else not listed can also report suspected child abuse to that hotline, even if they are not mandated reporters
- Elder Abuse: In cases of elder abuse or emotional abuse of older adults in care facilities by caregivers, professionals working with older adults are often required to report suspected abuse
- Domestic Violence: In cases of domestic violence, there is no legal requirement for individuals to report emotional abuse, but victims can seek help and protection through legal avenues such as through the PFA Act
Even if not legally required, reporting emotional abuse can be crucial for the safety and well-being of the victim. Reporting also assists the victim in seeking legal protections or pursuing a claim for emotional distress.
It is important to note that emotional abuse is often harder to identify than physical abuse. However, the impacts of emotional abuse are not any less harmful than physical abuse in many cases.
How to Prove Emotional Abuse in Court?
There are two claims under which an individual who has suffered emotional abuse can pursue a civil claim in Pennsylvania: negligent infliction of emotional distress (“NIED”) or intentional infliction of emotional distress (“IIED”).
In order to prove emotional abuse in a civil case in Pennsylvania, the victim will generally need to establish all of the required legal elements of their claim, which will depend on whether they are pursuing a NIED claim or a IIED claim.
In order to prove negligent infliction of emotional distress, the plaintiff (i.e. the party alleging they were injured) will need to prove one of the following:
- Contractual or Fiduciary Duty: That the defendant had a contractual or fiduciary duty toward you
- Physical Impact: That you suffered a physical impact as a result of the defendant’s actions
- Zone of Danger: That you were in a “zone of danger” and at risk of immediate physical injury
- Contemporaneous Perception: Alternatively that you had a contemporaneous perception of a tortious injury to a close relative
In order to prove intentional infliction of emotional distress, the plaintiff will need to prove:
- Extreme and Outrageous Conduct: That the defendant’s conduct was extreme and outrageous, going beyond all possible bounds of decency
- Intent or Recklessness: That the defendant acted with the intent to cause emotional distress or with reckless disregard of the likelihood of causing such distress
- Causation: That the defendant’s conduct directly caused your emotional distress
- Severe Emotional Distress: That you suffered severe emotional distress as a result of the defendant’s actions
In either claim for emotional abuse, providing evidence such as medical evidence, witness testimony, forensic evaluations, or records of time missed from work are often the most important factors in being successful in the lawsuit.
As such, if you are seeking to file a lawsuit involving emotional abuse, you should always document everything and keep good records regarding any treatment that you have had to undergo.
Additionally, if your emotional abuse also resulted in a physical manifestation, such as a nerve-related illness, you should maintain and be able to provide any documentation involving that physical manifestation.
Can Someone Go to Jail for Emotional Abuse?
In short, it depends. Emotional abuse in Pennsylvania is typically addressed through civil remedies rather than criminal charges. However, emotional abuse can lead to criminal consequences in scenarios, such as:
- Violation of (PFA) Orders: If a victim obtains a PFA order against an abuser, and the abuser violates this order, they can face criminal contempt charges
- Violating a PFA order can result in jail time of up to six months and/or fines ranging from $300 to $1,000
- Related Criminal Charges: As noted above, emotional abuse often accompanies other forms of abuse, which are criminal offenses, such as physical or sexual abuse
- In such cases, the abuser can be charged with these crimes and potentially face jail time and/or criminal fines
- Harassment and Stalking: If the emotional abuse is accompanied by criminal behaviors that qualify as harassment or stalking, the abuser can be charged under Pennsylvania’s criminal statutes for those offenses
If you have been charged with criminal emotional abuse or have questions related to mental abuse charges, a Pennsylvania criminal law attorney will be able to answer any questions you may have.
What Are Some Legal Remedies for Emotional Abuse?
There are several legal remedies available for victims of emotional abuse in Pennsylvania. In the criminal context, legal remedies for emotional abuse may include the issuing of a Protection from Abuse Order.
Orders can prohibit abusers from contacting victims, remove abusers from shared residences, grant temporary custody of children to the victim, and even order the abuser to relinquish firearms or other weapons.
In the civil context, emotional abuse often results in a damages award for the victim of the abuse. The purpose of the damage award is to compensate the victim of emotional abuse for their losses.
In other words, the victim will often be granted damages for expenses, such as therapy sessions, medical costs, medication costs, or time missed from work. A damage award for emotional abuse in Pennsylvania may include any of the following damages:
- Economic Damages: Economic damages cover out-of-pocket expenses such as medical bills, therapy costs, and lost wages
- Non-Economic Damages: Non-economic damages include compensation for pain and suffering, emotional distress, anxiety, depression, and loss of enjoyment of life
- Punitive Damages: Punitive damages are damages that are awarded in cases where the defendant’s conduct was particularly egregious or malicious, and are issued to punish the defendant and deter similar behavior in the future
Finally, in family law cases, emotional abuse may be a determining factor in matters that involve child custody, child support, and determining visitation. A local attorney in Pennsylvania will be familiar with all of the remedies available under the state’s emotional abuse laws.
Should I Hire a Lawyer for Help with Emotional Abuse Claims?
If you are experiencing abuse caused by the intentional or reckless actions of another party or know of someone experiencing emotional abuse, it is recommended that you immediately consult a Pennsylvania family lawyer.
LegalMatch can assist you in locating and setting up an attorney consultation with an experienced family attorney near you. An experienced lawyer will be able to inform you of your legal rights and best course of legal action under Pennsylvania’s specific emotional abuse laws.
They will also be able to inform you of all of the laws that may affect any claim you may have for damages related to your emotional abuse. Additionally, an attorney will be able to assist you in drafting and filing a civil lawsuit against your abuser. Finally, a family law lawyer can also represent you in court, as needed.
