--- title: "Emotional Distress: Compensable as an Injury" description: On occasion, clients ask about the emotional distress caused by someone else's wrongdoing. Emotional distress is compensable as an injury, but just what the damages are worth is the biggest question and how do you prove the damages? --- [Dan's Desk](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/author/dan-gallatin) - [lawyer](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/lawyer) - [hugo](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/hugo) - [MN](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/mn) - [law](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/law) - [attorney](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/attorney) - [legal](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/legal) [Subscribe](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/emotional-distress-compensable-as-an-injury#) 05/22/2019 # Emotional Distress: Compensable as an Injury - - - - - [mailto:?subject=Emotional%20Distress%3A%20Compensable%20as%20an%20Injury&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gallatin-law.com%2Fblog%2Femotional-distress-compensable-as-an-injury](mailto:?subject=Emotional%20Distress%3A%20Compensable%20as%20an%20Injury&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gallatin-law.com%2Fblog%2Femotional-distress-compensable-as-an-injury) On occasion, clients ask about the emotional distress caused by someone else's wrongdoing. Emotional distress is compensable as an injury, but just what the damages are worth is the biggest question and how do you prove the damages? With respect to proving the damages, in[ Navarre v. South Washington Cty. Schools](https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1985585/navarre-v-south-washington-county-schools/), the Minnesota Supreme Court held that medical testimony is not required in order to substantiate claims for emotional-distress damages so long as the plaintiffs are able to “prove that emotional injury occurred under circumstances tending to guarantee its genuineness.” 652 N.W.2d 9, 30 (Minn. 2002) (quotation omitted). That is, you don't need to get professional therapy to prove emotional distress, but your distress must be actual and credible. The value of your emotional distress is a jury question. Jury's are wildly unpredictable, so the ability to quantify the value is difficult. But, if your distress is actual and genuine, there is great risk of a jury showing compassion and awarding significant damages. Hopefully, you do not encounter a situation where you have to consider whether you have a claim for emotional distress or that you may be liable for someone else's emotional distress. If you do though, consider the information here and how it may impact your case. The material contained herein is provided for informational purposes only and is not legal advice, nor is it a substitute for obtaining legal advice from an attorney. Each situation is unique, and you should not act or rely on any information contained herein without seeking the advice of an experienced attorney. All information contained in links are the property of the linked site. - [damage](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/damage), - [emotion](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/emotion), - [emotional distress](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/emotional-distress), - [attorney](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/attorney), - [hugo](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/hugo), - [injury](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/injury), - [jury](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/jury), - [law](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/law), - [lawyer](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/lawyer), - [legal](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/legal), - [minnesota](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/minnesota), - [Minnesota Supreme Court](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/minnesota-supreme-court), - [MN](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/mn), - [Navarre v. South Washington Cty. Schools](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/tag/navarre-v-south-washington-cty-schools) ![Dan Gallatin](https://www.gallatin-law.com/hubfs/assets-mjfw/site%20images/Dans-Desk.jpg) ## [Dan Gallatin](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/author/dan-gallatin) Dan is a lifelong resident of Minnesota. Born in St. Paul, Dan spent many of his formative years growing up there before moving to White Bear Lake. After graduating from White Bear Lake, Dan spent four glorious years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, earning a degree in two majors. Dan worked as a Senior Investigator at the Minnesota Department of Commerce for several years after graduating from college. During his final years Dan attended William Mitchell College of Law while still working full-time. During this exhausting 3 ½ year period Dan honed his skills in becoming an efficient, to-the-point legal practitioner. While at Madison Dan met his wife, Tonya, and together they moved to Minnesota to plant their roots. Dan and Tonya have two amazing, unique children and reside in Hugo. ### CONNECT WITH ME - ## Related Posts [01/16/2019 Punitive Damages in Litigation Punitive damages are very powerful, but also require a very high standard of proof. You cannot plead punitive damages initially; rather, you have to… Read Post ](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/punitive-damages-in-litigation) [12/21/2016 Trespass and a Tree - What's a Tree Worth, or Take Out One Tree, Pay for Three? The cause of action of Trespass is pretty simple. You cross into someone else's property, you are wrong. The complexity of the cause of action arises… Read Post ](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/trespass-and-a-tree-whats-a-tree-worth-or-take-out-one-tree-pay-for-three) ### Subscribe Here! ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Dan Gallatin", "url" : "https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/author/dan-gallatin" }, "dateModified" : "2020-08-21T18:34:27.213Z", "datePublished" : "2019-05-22T05:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "Emotional Distress: Compensable as an Injury", "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/emotional-distress-compensable-as-an-injury", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.gallatin-law.com/hubfs/logos/Gallatin-Logo-654x84.png" }, "name" : "Gallatin Law, PLLC" } } ```