Personal Injury
Emotional Distress
5 statutes with plain-language summaries, case relevance, source links, and related Michigan practice areas.
Emotional Distress
5 statutes"A person shall not bring or maintain an action to recover damages for injuries to persons or property unless, after the claim first accrued to the plaintiff or to someone through whom the plaintiff claims, the action is commenced within the periods of time prescribed by this section. For claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress, the 3-year period of limitations applies."Read Full Statute
Michigan's general injury limitations statute gives many personal-injury and emotional-distress claims a 3-year filing period after the claim accrues, unless a more specific limitation period applies.
Emotional-distress theories can arise in personal-injury, employment, civil-rights, abuse, and other matters. The correct deadline depends on the underlying legal theory and accrual rule.
We identify all applicable emotional distress theories and ensure they are properly pleaded within the limitations period to capture every available avenue of recovery.
"The claim accrues at the time the wrong upon which the claim is based was done regardless of the time when damage results."Read Full Statute
Unless another statute provides a different rule, a claim accrues when the wrong on which the claim is based was done, regardless of when the resulting damage is discovered.
The accrual date can decide whether an emotional-distress claim is timely. Symptoms that worsen or become clearer later do not automatically move the filing deadline.
We build a timeline of the wrongful conduct, injury, discovery, and any potentially applicable tolling or claim-specific accrual rule before deciding whether a claim can be filed.
"Damages recoverable in a wrongful death action shall include reasonable medical, hospital, funeral, and burial expenses for which the estate is liable; loss of financial support and other contributions of the deceased person to survivors; and damages for the loss of the society and companionship of the deceased."Read Full Statute
Michigan's Wrongful Death Act allows recovery for loss of society and companionship, along with other damages the statute identifies, through the decedent's personal representative.
Loss of society and companionship is a recognized noneconomic-damages category in wrongful death cases. Medical-malpractice wrongful death claims may also require analysis of statutory caps.
We work with the personal representative and surviving family members to document legally recoverable relationship losses and present them clearly.
"In an action based on tort, the liability of each defendant shall be allocated in direct proportion to the party's percentage of fault. In determining percentages of fault, the trier of fact shall consider the fault of each person that contributed to the injury, regardless of whether the person is named as a party."Read Full Statute
In tort cases involving fault of more than one person, the jury or court generally allocates percentages of fault among parties and sometimes nonparties. Whether this applies to a particular emotional-distress theory depends on the claim and the conduct alleged.
Defendants may try to shift fault to other parties, nonparties, or the plaintiff. Intentional-tort, civil-rights, and employment-related emotional-distress claims may require different analysis.
We build detailed timelines and present clear evidence of each defendant's conduct so the jury can accurately attribute emotional harm to the parties who caused it.
"A person shall not commit torture. As used in this section, 'torture' means the intentional infliction of extreme physical or mental suffering upon another person within the jurisdiction of this state, if the person committing the act knew that the act would inflict severe or extreme physical or mental suffering upon the person."Read Full Statute
Michigan's criminal torture statute prohibits intentional infliction of extreme physical or mental suffering under the statute's terms. It is a criminal law, not a stand-alone civil cause of action.
Facts that may violate a criminal statute can also be relevant to separate civil claims, including assault, battery, civil-rights, or abuse-related claims. The civil theory must be identified independently.
We review criminal records, investigative findings, medical proof, and witness evidence to determine which civil claims are available when extreme abuse is alleged.