Friend-zoned: Man sues lady for trauma after she rejected him

SINGAPORE – An individual who wished a romantic relationship with a lady initially threatened to sue her for emotional trauma after he stumbled on that she seen him solely as a buddy.

The licensed movement was saved at bay after she agreed to take part in his counselling, nevertheless practically 1½ years later, Mr Ok. Kawshigan nonetheless couldn’t settle for that Ms Nora Tan didn’t want to be in a relationship with him.

After she reduce off contact with him, he filed two lawsuits in opposition to her – a $3 million High Court declare for allegedly inflicting “damage to his stellar reputation” and “trauma, depression and impacts” to his life, and a $22,000 Justice of the Peace’s courtroom declare for allegedly breaching an settlement to boost their relationship.

The latter swimsuit was struck out in January by State Courts deputy registrar Lewis Tan, who said Mr Kawshigan’s declare was “manifestly groundless and without foundation” and amounted to an abuse of the courtroom course of.

In a judgment printed on Saturday (Jan 28), Mr Tan said: “Considered in totality, I find that the present action was intentionally initiated by the claimant with the ulterior motive of vexing or oppressing the defendant by requiring her to defend various claims that fundamentally stem from the same factual matrix in different forums.”

He added: “This court will not be an accessory to his calculated attempt to compel engagement from the defendant who, after years of massaging the claimant’s unhappiness, has finally decided to stand up to his threats rather than cower and give in to his demands.”

Ms Tan and Mr Kawshigan met in 2016, and have turn out to be associates over time.

In September 2020, points began to come back up after they turned misaligned in how they seen their relationship. While Ms Tan regarded Mr Kawshigan solely as a buddy, he thought-about her to be his “closest friend”.

Ms Tan requested for his or her interactions to be decreased, which displeased Mr Kawshigan, as he felt it constituted taking a step once more of their relationship. Nevertheless, she emphasised the need for boundaries and urged him to be “self-reliant”.

On Oct 22 that yr, Mr Kawshigan issued her a letter of demand, threatening licensed movement for “monetary damages arising from negligent infliction of emotional distress and possible defamation”.

Ms Tan tried to trigger with Mr Kawshigan. She knowledgeable him in a textual content material message that her “discomfort (was) genuine”. He responded by saying she would possibly each comply alongside together with his calls for to deepen their relationship or endure “irrevocable” damage to her non-public {{and professional}} endeavours.

Mr Kawshigan’s counsellor then requested Ms Tan to participate of their durations. She agreed, as she thought it would help him come to phrases alongside along with her option to not pursue a romantic relationship with him.

After 1½ years, Ms Tan stopped the durations as she felt they’d flip into futile.

In April 2022, she started harassment proceedings in opposition to Mr Kawshigan. In response, he alluded to a attainable declare in opposition to her in a textual content material message peppered with phrases like “damage that has strong legal basis” and “make your liability worst”.

After forwards and backwards discussions on the steps to be taken to larger align their relationship, Ms Tan chosen May 14, 2022 to cease communications as she felt she won’t handle his requests for elevated interaction and his lack of skill to respect her non-public boundaries.

On July 7, 2022, he filed a High Court declare in opposition to her. He alleged that attributable to certain remarks and negligence on her half, he suffered a loss in incomes functionality and enterprise partnerships, along with costs incurred in rehabilitation and treatment functions to beat the trauma he suffered.

Ms Tan then obtained an expedited security order in opposition to him and engaged authorized professionals to file her defence and counterclaim to the swimsuit.

On Aug 27, 2022, Mr Kawshigan filed the Justice of the Peace’s courtroom declare for alleged breach of the steps to larger align their relationship.

He claimed that on account of the breach, his incomes functionality as an “active high-capital trader by night and a busy CEO by day” has been negatively affected, and that he has wanted to “source for deeper psychological assistance”.

Ms Tan then utilized to strike out this declare.

The $3 million High Court declare is mounted for a pre-trial listening to on Feb 9.

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This article was first printed in The Straits Times. Permission required for copy.