The First Department gave Allen & Overy (AO), a mega law firm, an unusual win when it recently compelled a former employee to submit to a psychological examination.  Plaintiff Deidre Clark claimed she was harassed and ultimately fired after a drunken sexual encounter with a former partner at the firm.  But AO’s stated reason for firing Clark was its discovery that Clark wrote a steamy, sex-filled novel about an ex-patriate living the good life in Russia.  Clark claimed her literary hobby was but a pretext for termination.  Clark demanded $15 million for intentional infliction of emotional distress.  AO sought to test Clark’s claimed mental distress by compelling her to submit to an independent psychological evaluation – – and the trial court agreed.  Clark appealed and the First Department affirmed, noting that such an examination is warranted to rebut emotional distress claims.

From a defense perspective, this is an excellent strategy to test emotional distress claims seriously pressed.  Here, plaintiff did not want to submit to such testing, we suspect, for the obvious reason that her claim of psychological distress was grossly exaggerated.

Thanks to Alison Weintraub for her contribution to this post.  For more information, please email Dennis Wade at .