Emotional distress damages for breach of contract---no unless . . .

In Benefield v Village at Stonegate Pointe Condominium Association, __ Mich __ (#147214, 10/12/2013) the Michigan Supreme Court reversed that portion of the Court of Appeals judgment that reversed the trial court’s exclusion of emotional distress damages for the plaintiff’s breach of contract and negligence claims. 

Emotional distress damages are generally not recoverable for breach of a commercial contract unless such damages were within the contemplation of the parties at the time the contract was made. Kewin v Massachusetts Mutual Ins Co, 409 Mich 401, 419 (1980). Emotional distress damages are also generally not recoverable for the negligent destruction of property. Price v High Pointe Oil Co, Inc, 493 Mich 238, 264 (2013).