What is Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress?
Many of you have heard the term “emotional distress” or “negligent infliction of emotional distress”. What exactly does this term mean?
Negligent infliction of emotional distress, or NIED, is often referred to as “bystander liability.” Essentially, if Defendant is negligent and hurts Plaintiff, Bystander who witnessed the incident can argue that Defendant’s conduct negligently inflicted emotional distress.
NIED was first recognized in California in the groundbreaking case Dillon v. Legg almost 60 years ago. In Dillon, a child crossing the street was tragically hit by a car and killed. The child’s mother sued the driver, arguing that she suffered emotional trauma witnessing the event from across the street.
Many important California Supreme Court and Court of Appeals cases have analyzed NIED since Dillon was decided. Most recently, the Court of Appeal in Downey v. City of Riverside provided important parameters to an NIED claim.
One of the issues in the Downey case was whether the plaintiff was “present” at the scene of the accident such that she could maintain a claim for NIED. The plaintiff was on the phone with her daughter who was driving through a busy intersection. Plaintiff heard the car collision through the phone—then her daughter stopped talking. The next thing plaintiff heard was another person get on the phone and tell the plaintiff to call 911. Through these events, the plaintiff came to realize that her daughter had just been in a collision and was seriously injured.
The Court ruled that the plaintiff could maintain her NIED claim. The Court noted that a plaintiff’s visual perception of an event is not necessarily required: a viable NIED claim may be stated by a plaintiff who perceives an event by other senses as long as they contemporaneously understand the event caused injury to their close relative. What’s crucial is the plaintiff must allege facts showing an awareness of the causal connection between the defendant’s negligent conduct and the resulting injury as it occurs.
The Downey case illustrates how, as technology continues to improve our lives, the tort of NIED continues to be tested. Whether it’s on Zoom, FaceTime, Snapchat, or the old-fashioned telephone, the definition of who is “present” at the scene of an accident continues to change.
If you or someone you know were injured in a Los Angeles or Orange County car, pedestrian, bicycle, or motorcycle crash, reach out to my office and I’ll see what I can do to help. Whether it’s a claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress or other personal injuries, the Rabbi Lawyer is ready to assist, 24/6.
