1. Personal Injury and Discrimination in Civil Law
Chapter 13

2. Legal Basis for Personal Injury Cases: Torts and Civil Law
Torts are a civil wrong that one person commits against another and results in either physical or psychological damage
Elements of a tort:
Duty or obligation
Violation of that duty
Damages resulted from the violation of the duty
Violation was the proximate cause of the damages

3. Damages Compensatory Damages Punitive Damages
Compensating for the damages suffered by the plaintiff
Punitive Damages
Punishing the defendant for his behavior

4. General Forensic Practice in Personal Injury Cases
Establish a baseline level of psychological functioning
Determine the nature and severity of distress
Determine the extent and severity of any impairment in functioning
Determine the psychological cause of the impairments
Determine the psychological interventions that may reduce the psychological injury

5. Malingering in Personal Injury Cases
May be a heightened risk for malingering when there are financial incentives
Lees-Haley (1997) found that 20-30% of plaintiffs exhibited possible malingering
Many attorneys coach witnesses
Measures in personal injury evaluations used to asses malingering
MMPI
MMPI-2
SIRS

6. Typical Injuries Involved in Personal Injury Claims
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Neuropsychological damage
Chronic Pain

7. PTSD Largest psychological disorder for plaintiffs (DSM)
May have greatest impact on the court system
Requires specific triggering event
Suggests causal relationship, providing an avenue for proximate cause
Must present symptoms for at least a month to be diagnosed
Four groups of criterion (A, B, C, & D)
New research suggests multiple causes for PTSD

8. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Severity generally determined by
Length of time unconscious
Extensiveness of associated amnesia
Penetrating damage to skull
Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS)
Difficulty evaluating TBI
Intelligence scales
Memory scales
WMS-R
TOMM

9. Approaches to Neuropsychological Assessment
Fixed battery approach
Examiner administers a standardized set of psychological tests in an identical manner
Flexible process approach
Examiner uses more discretion by only selecting tasks and administering tests related to the area of possible impairment

10. Chronic Pain Psychological experience of pain
May contribute to pain experience
May be a result of the pain
Assess for relevant cognitive factors
Beck Depression Inventory
Symptom Checklist-90-Revised
Assess motivation
Influence of secondary gains

11. Psychological Independent Medical Evaluation
Requested by insurance companies in ongoing disability claims
Similar to a personal injury evaluation, but do not require any opinion about proximate cause
Assess the ongoing symptoms and treatment effectiveness in relation to the person’s ability to function in his or her place of employment
Nature of disabilities
Factual disability
Social disability
Legal disability

12. Independent Medical Evaluation Steps
Conduct a thorough investigation
Identify any deficits impairing the person’s ability to perform their job
Base opinion on objective data
Especially consider malingering or exaggeration

13. Workers’ Compensation
Worker Compensation laws
Both parties (employees and employers) relinquish certain legal rights
Intended to make up for lost earnings and any other expenses caused by the work-related injury

14. Sexual Harassment and Employment Discrimination
Civil Rights Act of 1964 identified gender, race religion, and national origin as protected classes for employment discrimination
Discrimination results from
Discriminatory effects
Discriminatory treatment
Sexual Harassment
Quid pro quo
Hostile work
Forensic psychologist must determine:
Whether harassment or discrimination occurred
Why it occurred
Effects on the defendant