DPF Briefing

May 2001

Damages for “Stress”

Damages are only recoverable for stress-related illnesses in a personal injury claim where there is a recognised psychiatric disorder. An employer’s duty of care to prevent psychiatric harm to its employees does not extend to the prevention of common place negative emotions or normal human conditions such as anxiety, stress, resentment, or anger.

Furthermore, the employer’s duty to prevent psychiatric harm or injury is not a general one but will only arise if it is reasonably foreseeable that negative emotions or human conditions such as stress or anxiety are liable to be suffered to such a degree as to constitute psychiatric disorder.

The above confirmation of the law was recently given by the Court of Session in Scotland in both the cases of Rorrison and Fraser.