The big silliness of the day? A reverend, presiding at a funeral, allegedly said that the recently deceased man of the hour “was “living in sin,” “lukewarm in his faith” and that “the Lord vomited people like Ben out of his mouth to hell.” The survivors, of course, are suing for emotional and physical suffering. Now, say what you will about the emotional claim — I’m sure most would agree with me and shake their heads in disbelief — but physical harm? There are no allegations that the reverend dropped the casket on anyone’s foot. But hey, it could get even more ridiculous. Writes Ted Frank: “Clearly the plaintiffs aren’t thinking ambitiously enough. If their concern is the emotional distress from townspeople thinking that their father is in hell, they should be demanding injunctive relief to place their father in the appropriate afterlife.” Or perhaps a restraining order against Satan, ordering him to keep a distance no less than three ethereal planes from the soul in question? (Zelle Pollon, Reuters, Jul. 17). Other commentary: See the Volokh Conspiracy, OpinionJournal’s Best of the Web Today (last item).
Posts Tagged ‘emotional distress’
Nursed wrong baby: and what are the damages?
In Raleigh, N.C., Robyn Jones says she was brought the wrong baby to breast-feed and proceeded to nurse it for 30 (her version) or 5 (the hospital’s version) minutes. And what, ma’am, are the damages? Well, her lawyer says that the resulting devastating emotional distress not only has poisoned Jones’s relationship with her husband but has led her to neglect her own baby: “Without a normal mother-daughter relationship, Jones’ now 2-year-old daughter has become developmentally disabled, the lawsuit said.” Now there’s damages for you! In addition, Jones’s lawyer says his client has suffered from fear of having picked up some sort of bug in her brief encounter with the other woman’s infant. A hospital spokeswoman says all such tests came out negative, but that just sounds to us as if the hospital is setting itself up for an invasion-of-privacy claim next. (“Woman sues hospital for bringing wrong baby for feeding”, AP/Charlotte Observer, Jun. 25).