While lawyers and judges are the ultimate legal experts, of course, I believe that every citizen should take the time to learn a little about law for several reasons. First, it is important to know your rights, and knowing them can come in handy if anyone ever accuses you of a crime you didn't commit or threatens you legally in another other way. Second, learning about your local, state, and federal laws can help you act as a better citizen. When election time comes around, you can then truly understand ever change in law being proposed by a candidate and whether it benefits society or not. I plan to share posts about law topics explained in plain English on my new blog, so you can come back often to sharpen your legal knowledge!
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Personal Injury Law: Navigating the Path to Compensation 7 February 2024
Everyone Should Learn a Little about Law
Potential Damages In An Invasion Of Privacy Lawsuit
Kaylee Wells
A person who violates your privacy, for example, by revealing your embarrassing or secret information, should compensate you for the ensuing damage. Here are some of the damages you can collect from such a claim or lawsuit:
Emotional Distress
Having someone invade your privacy is distressing, especially if the invasion involves a disclosure of embarrassing facts. For example, rape is a traumatizing experience that nobody should ever have to relive. Therefore, if you are a rape victim who has managed to keep your ordeal private for a long time only to have someone reveal your experience, it's clear that you will be emotionally distressed. You deserve to be compensated for this distress.
Medical Bills
Depending on how emotionally or psychologically damaging the invasion of privacy has been, you may require medical attention to get over it. For example, reliving a traumatic event can be so damaging that you may require a therapist's help to overcome it. In such a case, the person who invaded your privacy should settle the medical bills.
Disgorgement of Profits
Nobody should ever profit from the misery of another. Unfortunately, there are people who profit by revealing other people's secrets, which is an invasion of property. For example, a neighbor who leaks your embarrassing details to the local paper, and gets paid for it, shouldn't get to enjoy the profits. Some courts agree with this assessment and will get such a defendant to hand over the profits to the victim – this is called disgorgement of profits.
Injunctive Relief
It would be foolhardy to punish a person for doing something bad and not order them to stop doing it. Therefore, when you sue someone for invading your privacy, one of the things you expect the court to do, and the court is likely to oblige, is to instruct the person to desist from their invasive activities. For example, a person who has been leaking your private information to the press will be ordered to cease and threatened with a specific punishment if the leakage continues.
Punitive Damages
Some people are so heartless that they leak others' information knowing very well that the subjects will be hurt. In fact, there are those who leak information specifically to hurt the subjects. These people deserve special punishment. If the court determines that this is the case with your defendant, then it is likely to order the defendant to pay punitive damages.
As you can see, damages arising out of an invasion of privacy injury claim are real and quantifiable. If you think you have such a claim, consult a personal injury attorney from firms like Gregory R Heline & Associates Law Office to help you on the way forward.
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