Damages 102 (General Damages)

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The easiest way to define “general damages” is to say that they are not “special damages”.  Special damages are the monetary award to reimburse the plaintiff for a loss or expense that can be readily valued, i.e. the cost of medical bills or the costs to repair damage to property.  See the prior post, Damages 101 (Compensatory Damages) for more information on special damages.   On the other hand, “general damages” are those damages that by their nature can have no intrinsic monetary value, i.e. pain and suffering or emotional distress.

When calculating general damages, many people believe that there is a formula.  For example, there are those who say that pain and suffering should be two times or three times the total of the special damages.  However, such a formula is not the law.  Rather, if a claim goes to trial in Nevada, the jury is told to calculate pain and suffering as follows:

No definite standard or method of calculation is prescribed by law by which to fix reasonable compensation for pain and suffering.  Nor is the opinion of any witness required as to the amount of such reasonable compensation.  In making an award for pain and suffering, you shall exercise your authority with calm and reasonable judgment and the damages you fix shall be just and reasonable in the light of the evidence. (Nevada Pattern Jury Instruction 10.05)

Some folks think that “emotional distress” and “pain and suffering” are the same thing.  In fact, a cause of action for “emotional distress” may give rise to an award of “pain and suffering” damages.  In order to recover for intentional infliction of emotional distress, a Nevada Plaintiff must show that the Defendant committed an extreme and outrageous conduct with either intention or reckless disregard, resulting in emotional distress.  Luckett v. Doumani, 121 Nev. 44, 110 P.3d 30 (2005).

Nevada also allows an award for damages even if the emotional distress was negligently caused.  State v. Eaton, 101 Nev. 705, 710 P.2d 1370 (1985).  However, the actions of the Defendant must result in “physical symptoms caused by apprehending the death or serious injury of a loved one due to the negligence of the defendant.” Id. at 718, 710 P.2d at 1379.  General physical or emotional discomfort was insufficient in terms of damage to satisfy the requirement for physical symptoms.  Chowdhry v. NLVH, 109 Nev. 478, 482-83, 851 P.2d 459, 462 (1993) (citations omitted).

If a Plaintiff can prove these elements of emotional distress, the Plaintiff may be awarded special damages to compensate for the cost of going to the doctor to treat the physical symptoms and may also recover general damages for the pain and suffering caused by the injury and the treatment.

Additional Information related the issue of Damages in Nevada Litigation can also be found HERE.  We at Mills & Associates encourage you to explore the “Categories” listed in the right column for related topics.