Torts Keyed to Prosser
Thing v. La Chusa
Facts
On December 8, 1980, John Thing, a minor, was struck by an automobile operated by the Defendant. The Plaintiff, John Thing’s mother was nearby, but neither saw nor heard the accident. Plaintiff’s daughter informed her of the injury to her son. Plaintiff rushed to the scene, where she found her son bloody and unconscious. Plaintiff sued the Defendant, alleging she suffered great emotional disturbance, shock and injury to her nervous system as a result of the emotional stress she suffered. Plaintiff also alleged that these injuries were proximately caused by the Defendant’s negligence. The court granted Defendant’s motion for summary judgment ruling as a matter of law that Plaintiff could not establish a claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress because she did not contemporaneously and sensorily perceive the accident. The Court of Appeals overruled the trial court’s grant of summary judgment.
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