When you were involved in an accident, the resulting injuries can extend far beyond physical harm. Emotional trauma can be just as debilitating as broken bones or back injuries. However, recovering compensation for emotional distress in Florida is more complicated than you might expect.
Florida follows what is known as the Impact Rule, which can significantly affect your ability to recover damages for emotional injuries in a personal injury claim. Understanding this rule is essential if you have suffered emotional harm due to someone else’s negligence.
If you have suffered emotional distress due to someone else’s negligence, you need an experienced Florida personal injury lawyer who understands how the impact rule applies to your case. At Rosen Injury Law, our Fort Lauderdale injury attorneys have decades of combined experience helping injury victims recover maximum compensation for all their damages, including emotional distress. Let us help you.
Call (954) 787-1500 or visit our contact page and schedule a free consultation to discuss your personal injury claim.
Understanding Florida’s Impact Rule
Florida’s Impact Rule is a legal doctrine that generally requires a person to have suffered a direct physical impact or injury to recover compensation for emotional distress in a personal injury claim based on negligence. Under the Impact Rule, if you experience emotional trauma without any physical contact or injury, you typically cannot recover damages for your emotional harm alone.
The Impact Rule originated from a Florida Supreme Court’s 1893 decision. In that case, a telegraph company negligently delayed delivering a message informing a husband that his wife was dying. The husband was unable to reach his wife before she died and sued the telegraph company for the emotional distress he suffered from being unable to get to his wife’s side before she died.
The Florida Supreme Court ruled that because the negligence resulted only in mental suffering without any physical injury, the husband could only recover nominal damages. Florida is one of only a few states that maintains the Impact Rule.
Physical Impact Required For Emotional Damages
Under the Impact Rule, if any physical impact occurs, no matter how slight, a person can recover damages for emotional injuries. The physical impact does not need to be severe or result in any significant bodily injury. Even a minor touch or bump can satisfy the impact requirement and allow you to seek compensation for emotional distress.
For example, even if you only suffered a small bruise in a minor fender bender accident, you could still recover for any emotional distress caused by the accident, since the Impact Rule would be satisfied.
However, you must establish that some form of physical impact occurred during the incident that caused your emotional harm.
Exceptions to Florida’s Impact Rule
While the impact rule can be a significant barrier to recovering compensation for emotional distress, Florida courts have recognized several important exceptions over the years. Some of those exceptions include cases involving the following scenarios:
- Negligent infliction of emotional distress. Florida law allows recovery for emotional distress damages when a person witnesses the serious injury or death of a close family member, even if they were not physically impacted themselves. However, there are specific requirements that must be met. The emotional distress must be manifested by a physical injury, and the plaintiff must have been involved in the incident by seeing, hearing, or arriving on the scene as it occurred, with the distress occurring within a short time of the incident.
- Intentional torts. Emotional distress damages can be recovered for intentional acts such as assault, defamation, or invasion of privacy.
- Ingestion of contaminated food or beverages. Consuming the contaminated item constitutes a physical impact, so recovery for emotional trauma is possible.
- Mishandling a corpse. Interference with or improper handling of the remains of someone’s loved one can be the basis for recovering emotional distress damages.
- Violating therapist-patient confidentiality. Violating a therapy patient’s privacy may give rise to an emotional distress claim.
If you have suffered emotional distress due to another party’s negligent or intentional actions, you should promptly consult an experienced Florida personal injury lawyer to understand your legal rights.
Contact Rosen Injury Law
If you have suffered emotional distress due to someone else’s negligent or intentional actions, do not let the Impact Rule keep you from seeking the compensation you deserve. The personal injury attorneys at Rosen Injury Law have the knowledge, experience, and resources to help you navigate Florida’s Impact Rule and recover maximum compensation for your damages. Call (954) 787-1500 or visit our contact page and schedule a free consultation today.