can i sue my manager even though she has resigned?

Question

i work in a care home & had to whistleblow on my manager concerning a very serious incident & she was suspended & since resigned to avoid having to explain her actions. the stress has caused me have a near breakdown & am now on anti depressants & seeing a counsellor.
is it possible to sue her personally & if so would i have to pay??

for those who think i'm after fast cash or have a greivance with the company,let me explain as ppl are so quick to judge!!
i work in care home for the elderly with very severe cases of dementia,the manager decided to bring a resident into the home who is a sexual abuser & declined to inform anyone about this & held back information about his behaviour.
subsequently he went on to abuse the male & female residents.the manager knew & didn't do a thing about it. i found out & reported her after witnessing a horrific incident that i hope to never ever have to witness again.
so please don't anybody tell me i'm being petty or moneygrabbing.
i want serious answers to a serious question please.

Answer 1

You would have an emotional distress claim in tort which are classically very hard to prevail on in court.

Intentional infliction of emotional distress is easier to prove than negligent infliction of emotional distress, but for IIED, you have to prove that the defendant's actions were directed to harm you... like they were specifically doing the thing because it would make you emotionally distressed (although you might be able to get the person to be liable for doing something recklessly... she certainly knew that you would have to whistleblow on her for doing wrong and it might be reckless that she chose to do it because it was wrong and because she knew you'd have to wistleblow). For negligent infliction of emotional distress, you have to prove that the defendant owed you a duty which they breached and it caused your injury... unfortunately there's a general rule that there is no duty to prevent emotional distress... there's 3 exceptions to that rule to make there be liability and if you fit in one, it would be the special relationship category... since she's your superior in an employment situation, that relationship might satisfy the requirement to make that duty not to cause you emotional distress.

And it's better for both claims if you have some kind of physical injury that the emotional distress caused... so like if being distressed caused you to get physically sick and especially if you missed work for it.


I'm getting really sick of all the people on the board who don't know anything about the law and just come to answer saying that you can sue for anything... There was once a guy who wrote that on the bar exam and he failed! Oh, and I'm also sick of the morons who say the lawyers always win... actually a lot of times lawyers work on a contingency fee and don't get paid anything unless their client wins. And what's so wrong with the lawyer getting paid anyway? It's his job to do lawsuits. Everyone else gets paid for their jobs. We pay a lot of money for law school and work very hard to learn the law so that we can help the common people who don't know the law so that they're not taken advantage of or unjustly hurt. And managing a lawsuit requires a lot of hard work, a lot of hours, and a lot of responsibility to be sure that things are filed correctly and on time so that their client can win their lawsuit.


Anyway, yes you can sue... it's called an emotional distress claim. Those claims are hard to win, but you have as good a case as any I have read in my casebooks. If you feel strongly about it, go for it. Talk to a lawyer about whether it would be beneficial based on how much it would cost to bring the suit and how much you would be able to win. Good luck.

Answer 2

As people have already told you, you can just about sue anyone for anything. Whether it is a good plan depends on many things. The two most important are: Am I likely to win? If the answer is "Yes", the next question is: If I win, what resources does the losing party have to pay me the damages awarded? If the answer to this is "None" or "Very few", forget it.

In any event, as I have answered in many other questions, in each legal action there is a winner and a loser. The lawyer for each side ALWAYS thinks they are going to win - one is ALWAYS wrong.

However, in every legal action there are also two winners each time - the LAWYERS. They get paid, generally speaking, win or lose. Unless you really need to do this, my advice is DON'T. I worked at the Court of Appeal for 6 years and, every day, saw distraught litigants who had thought for a long time, sometimes years, that they would win, only to lose and face huge legal bills.

Finally, litigation in civil cases is NOT about justice - it is about LAW. I saw many cases where the Lords Justices said in the ir judgment that the losing litigant had justice and fair play on their side, but NOT the law.

Take several deep breaths, look at all the GOOD things in your life (which, I suspect, outweigh this person 10 to 1), and get back on with your life. It is too short to let things like this interfere with the smooth running of it.

FInally finally, if all else fails, ALCOHOL is the answer to, and the cause of, most of life's problems. [Homer Simpson, 1998.]

Answer 3

Unfortunately, in our wonderful civil legal system, anybody can sue anyone anytime for anything. You could actually still sue the company that she worked for even after she resigned, if she broke the law, violate your rights, while employed by them.

But if you are just looking for qucik cash, get over it and go back to work, because taxpayers usually end up paying the bill anyhow.

EDIT: After reading what you later added, how do you come to the conclusion that you were harmed and entitled to a settlement because you witnessed a crime and then reported it. You did the right thing, I guess I do not understand why you are now medicated for it and entitled to anything more than the feeling of knowing you did the right thing.

Answer 4

UK law
FYI - to put it bluntly, its important to note that you are more likely to get a decent pay out if you complain to the company rather than the individual.
But interesting question.

The Disibility Discrimination Act DDA (1995) defines a disibility as a long term physical or mental impairment that has a long term affect on the day to day activities - or something to that effect.

Stress, is not covered by the DDA, but depression is, providing that it has had a long term (12 months+ ish) effect on your day to day activities (that effect is based on how you are when you are not taking medication).

You can only 'sue' for compensation - that is, you will only be able to get back any money you lost because of the stress to put you back (financially) in the position you would have been had you not suffered. So, for example, loss of earnings, prescription costs etc etc.

Its likely that you may be able to put in a claim to your company because of the reasons outlined above.

Hope it all goes well for you.

Answer 5

You could sue her, but it might be expensive.
Well done you for exposing this. You carried out your job role of advocating for these vulnerable people and possibly saved more of them from abuse. Be proud of yourself for doing that. She's the one who should be upset.The families of the victims may be in a better position to bring a prosecution than you.
You can report her to the Nursing and midwifery council and they can take action against her if she is a registered nurse.

Wel done to you for your actions though.

Answer 6

Your employer is responsible for your wellbeing whilst at work. It seems to me that they may not have handled this very well if you have been made to feel the victim in this case and are now off sick. It is costing your employer money to have you off and I am surprised they are not doing anything about it. It seems you have a grievance against the company - ask for a copy of their grievance procedure, contact your Union rep (if you have one), or go and see the CAB. Also see www.acas.gov.uk, which also has a v helpful phone helpline.

Answer 7

You have to talk to a lawyer about the odds of receiving damages from your former manager. You can attempt to pursue a judgment for damages against anybody.

Answer 8

You can sue anyone for anything. Whether or not you will win depends on how strong your case is.

Answer 9

Its just waste of your time.........FORGET IT