This is a post I wrote on Reddit not long ago -
A religion can be sued for "intentional infliction of emotional distress" if it can be proven. Note that it must be intentional and of an extreme nature. But this is very interesting and I do hope that someone pursues this in court. Have you seen the organization's policy of when a person becomes suicidal after being called to a JC? The instruction is to immediately back off and wait until things settle down. No doubt, if there was a suicide attempt after the Elders had been made aware of the vulnerability of the victim due to a JC then they could be sued because it could be claimed that the elders actions were deliberate and intentional in causing further distress. It wouldn't surprise me, though, if the Watchtower tried to claim that the victim was not distressed because of the JC but because of their having sinned.
I wonder if the organisation could be sued under this 'intentional infliction of emotional distress' in less serious situations because the organization is fully aware of the distress disfellowshipping has on JWs. They acknowledge it as inflicted discipline, although in Court, I'm sure that the org. would claim that the victim was fully aware and accepted the possibility of being dfd. But I would suggest to anyone being called up to a JC to tell the Elders that they would be extremely distressed if they had to attend or if they were dfd and they would sue the organization if they continued to pursue the JC or dfing on the basis of intentional infliction of emotional distress because they had now been pre warned (therefore a claim for it being intentional)