Can a plaintiff sue for emotional distress arising out of breach of contract?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from Erlich v. Menezes, 21 Cal.4th 543, 87 Cal.Rptr.2d 886, 981 P.2d 978 (Cal. 1999):

1 At oral argument, plaintiff cited Sloane v. Southern Cal. Ry. Co. (1896) 111 Cal. 668, 44 P. 320, a case involving a passenger wrongly ejected from a train, for the proposition that emotional distress damages arising out of breach of contract have been permitted in California for many years. In fact, Sloane specifically recognized the distinction between contract and tort remedies and held plaintiff could either "bring an action simply for the breach of ... contract, or she could sue ... in tort" for the carrier's violation of the duty, as a common carrier, which it assumed upon entering into the contract. (Id. at p. 677, 44 P. 320.)

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