In today’s workplace, employees sometimes face challenges that exceed acceptable professional boundaries. These situations can cause significant emotional distress, potentially requiring therapy or medical treatment. Affected individuals often wonder if they have legal recourse against their employers. Understanding your state’s employment laws is crucial in determining whether you can seek legal remedies for workplace-induced mental anguish. Each case is unique, and the specifics of your situation will determine your options.
What is Emotional Distress?
Emotional distress refers to mental suffering caused by someone else’s actions, whether intentional or accidental. Symptoms can include feeling overwhelmed or hopeless, persistent worrying, fatigue, difficulty focusing or managing responsibilities, changes in appetite or sleep patterns, and even physical pain. In severe cases, it can lead to anxiety, humiliation, and depression.
Mental anguish can result from various unacceptable workplace situations, most notably traumatic events such as harassment, intimidation, or bullying. Other potential triggers are discrimination, persistent tension with co-workers, and unreasonable workloads that significantly exceed the scope of one’s position.
Can You Sue Your Employer for Stress or Anxiety Under Texas Law?
Employee rights in Texas are primarily governed by the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act (TWCA), which outlines the state’s workers’ compensation requirements. According to the Texas Department of Insurance, 75% of Texas employers subscribe to workers compensation. However, the law allows employers to opt out of carrying workers’ compensation insurance (non-subscribers), allowing employees to bring independent legal actions.
For “subscriber” employers, the TWCA covers work-related injuries, including emotional injuries incurred on the job, covering medical expenses, physical therapy costs, and lost wages. Although this insurance can benefit employees, the law limits the types of claims that can be made against subscribers.
These TWCA restrictions don’t apply to non-subscriber employers, leaving open the possibility for legal actions such as claims for emotional distress, which can’t be brought against employers with workers’ compensation coverage.
Additionally, employees are protected under:
- The Texas Commission on Human Rights Act (TCHRA), which addresses employment discrimination and ensures protection against retaliation and harassment. Its protections mirror federal laws like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- The Texas Whistleblower Act, which safeguards public employees who report illegal activities from retaliation such as suspension or termination. It also offers additional protection to certain healthcare professionals and those reporting violations of specific acts like the Hazard Communication Act.
The bar is high for an employee to bring a suit for intentional infliction of emotional distress in Texas. To assert such a claim under Texas law, an employee must establish that:
– The employer acted intentionally or recklessly;
– The conduct was extreme and outrageous;
– The employer’s action actually caused the employee’s emotional distress;
– The emotional distress suffered by employee was severe; and
– No other law provides protection for this type of conduct.
Courts in Texas have gone even further restricting employees’ rights to bring suit, holding that an employer’s conduct must be so extreme, outrageous, and intolerable that it goes beyond all possible bounds of decency in a civilized society.
Employees may also seek legal recourse through negligent infliction of emotional distress. However, plaintiffs may not bring a claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress by itself. Instead, it must be attached to a corresponding physical injury. Here, an individual must show that the employer’s negligence caused physical injury and severe mental anguish.
How Do You Prove Emotional Distress?
When trying to prove a case of emotional distress, Texas employees must keep diligent and comprehensive records. Often, evidence such as medical records, evaluation by mental health experts, and a daily journal can show that an individual is suffering from psychological distress. Proving that such distress is directly caused by an employer or from a workplace issue is more challenging.
To show that an employer caused emotional distress, an individual must demonstrate that the employer’s actions were intentional or reckless, the employer’s conduct was severe and outrageous, caused significant psychological impact, and that the distress was severe enough to impact the employee’s daily life or caused them to seek medical attention. Evidence may take the form of testimony from a colleague, treating psychologist or counselor, or documentation of a diagnosis or prescribed treatments that stems directly from work-caused mental anguish. Workplace documents can also be useful when proving that an employer acted intentionally in causing distress in cases such as forced resignation.
Conclusion
While Texas law does provide some protections for employees experiencing workplace-induced emotional distress, the legal landscape is complex. The specific circumstances of each case, including whether the employer is a subscriber to workers’ compensation, will significantly impact the available legal options. Employees facing such situations should consider consulting with a legal professional to understand their rights and potential courses of action.
Contact Our Experienced Texas Employment Attorneys
Suffering from emotional distress in the workplace creates an unsafe environment and can lead to long-term mental and physical health issues. To understand all your options in such situations, it is important to consult with an experienced employment attorney in Texas.
Contribution to this blog by Michael Touma.
