Stevens v. HOUSING AUTHORITY OF SOUTH BEND, IND., 663 F.3d 300 (2011)

Citation: Stevens v. HOUSING AUTHORITY OF SOUTH BEND, IND., 663 F.3d 300 (2011)
Parent Document: Stevens v. HOUSING AUTHORITY OF SOUTH BEND, IND., 663 F.3d 300 (2011)
Jurisdiction: United States (federal)
Effective Date: 2011-12-01
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/618130/stevens-v-housing-authority-of-s... ↗

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and incurred no expenses related to that Notice. Nor
did she incur any losses when she moved after the
Third Notice (which, again, is not at issue in this lawsuit).
She moved into her mother’s home rent-free, and her
mother paid for the move.
  Stevens also claims damages for emotional distress.
Although she asserts that some of her distress was
caused by her eventual move from the apartment, the
move was caused not by the First Notice, the sole subject
of this lawsuit, but rather by the Second and Third No-
tices. We may consider only the emotional distress
she suffered as a result of receiving the First Notice.
   When the injured plaintiff’s testimony is the only
proof of emotional damages, she must explain the cir-
cumstances of her injury in reasonable detail; she may
not rely on conclusory statements. Denius v. Dunlap, 330
F.3d 919, 929 (7th Cir. 2003); Alston v. King, 231 F.3d
383, 388 (7th Cir. 2000). A plaintiff must provide evi-
dence of “demonstrable emotional distress,” and may not
simply point to circumstances of the alleged constitu-
tional violation which might support an inference of
emotional injury. Alston, 231 F.3d at 388. But “an
injured person’s testimony may, by itself or in conjunc-
tion with the circumstances of a given case, be suf-
ficient to establish emotional distress without more.”
Alston, 231 F.3d at 388.
     [I]n determining whether the evidence of emotional
     distress is sufficient to support an award of damages,
     we must look at both the direct evidence of emotional
     distress and the circumstances of the act that
No. 10-2724                                                  17

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