Debtor had been informed of this levy from the dispatcher on the job. Judge Davis opined that the debtor merely suffered embarrassment at work where the levy was placed on her wages. Id. at 427 The levy was released almost immediately so there was no interruption in her wage payment. Mindful of the IRS' concern that many of the courts that have dealt with this issue did so in a conclusory fashion, allowing evidence on this issue will place us in a position to factually support our conclusion. In order to provide the desired intelligent analysis, we need to hear testimony and allow evidence on the issue.
Emotional distress is an actual injury.
Our emotions can wreak havoc with our nervous system, often having physical side effects. Emotional distress is not an ethereal proposition or an intangible concept. The stress is felt not by the inanimate object, the check bouncing orthe account freezing. Rather, the emotions belong to and are felt by the owner of the bounced check and the frozen account. Perhaps the Courts that have ruled IRS wilfully violated the stay and awarded damages for mental suffering felt that an in-depth discussion for the basis of the award would be rhetorical.