Do I have a civil suit for verbal assault and threat?
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Do I have a civil suit for verbal assault and threat?
I am a customer of a store. I was 3 days late on my bill and received a voicemail saying, “I’ve got someone looking for you and they will find you”. I went in and the manager swears he didn’t say it. My phone records and his say he left the voicemail.
Asked on November 26, 2011 under Personal Injury, Texas
Answers:
B.H.F., Member, Texas State Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Unless there was a bit more to the message that threatened some type of bodily injury or there were multiple calls of this manner, you probably don't have a person injury suit. If there was more and it did cause you a great deal of emotional distress, then you may have a person injury claim. Even though a personal injury suit may not be viable, you may have another type of suit. Texas has a version of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act called the Texas Debt Collection Practices Act. Both acts prohibit threatening and abusive collection practices. Some people combine FDCPA and TDCPA claims with deceptive trade practices claims as well. Depending on how aggravated you are, you have different levels of options. One is to contact the corporate office of the store and file an internal complaint. Your second option is to file a complaint with the Texas Attorney General. This complaint can be done online, and is free. If you want others to be aware sooner of this store's practices, also file a complaint with the local BBB. If you want to consider an actual law suit based on the acts discussed above, arrange for a consultation with an attorney that handles consumer law matters.
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