Dillon v. Legg
Dillon v. Legg, 68 Cal. 2d 728 (1968), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of California that established the tort of negligent infliction of emotional distress.
Factual background
A mother and her daughter witnessed the injury of her other child in a car accident caused by a negligent driver. The mother and daughter sued for emotional distress as a result of witnessing the accident. The trial court dismissed the claim under the prevailing zone of danger rule - the plaintiff needed to be in physical danger of the accident itself to recover for emotional distress.[1][2]
Decision
The court relied on foreseeability in order to establish whether or not a negligent defendant owed a duty of care to a bystander. The court urged a case by case analysis of several elements to determine if foreseeability would create a duty to a bystander:
- Whether the plaintiff was near the scene of the accident,
- Whether the plaintiff suffered an emotional shock from contemporaneously observing the accident, and
- Whether the plaintiff is closely related to the victim
Using these criteria, the court determined that it was foreseeable that the negligent operation of an automobile could cause emotional distress to a mother witnessing the injury of her child in an accident.[3]
References
- ^ Henderson, J.A. et al. The Torts Process, Seventh Edition. Aspen Publishers, New York, NY: 2007, p. 305
- ^ Meyer, Robert G. (December 15, 2005). Law and mental health: a case-based approach. Guilford Press. ISBN 1593852215.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Henderson, J.A. et al., p. 307