Opinion ID: 2132663
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Heading: negligent infliction of emotional distress in nebraska

Text: This court addressed the relationship between emotional injury and physical injury in Hanford v. Omaha &C.B. Street R. Co., 113 Neb. 423, 203 N.W. 643 (1925). In that case, a pregnant woman was approaching a streetcar she intended to board when a second streetcar crashed into the first. Although the woman suffered no direct physical injury from this collision, it caused her to jump backward and she suffered a strain, causing her to become ill and suffer a miscarriage. The jury returned an award in her favor. On appeal, the defendant argued that the jury should have been instructed that if the miscarriage was caused by the woman's jumping backward, then the defendant was liable, but if it was caused by fright alone, then the defendant was not liable. After an extensive examination of case law from other jurisdictions, we held that if defendant's negligence was the proximate cause of fright, and fright, in natural and probable sequence, the proximate cause of physical injury, the chain of causation is complete, and the fright is not an independent cause. Id. at 439, 203 N.W. at 649-50. We thus concluded that the woman was entitled to recover whether her injuries resulted from the jump backward or solely from the fright. We considered analogous circumstances in Netusil v. Novak, 120 Neb. 751, 235 N.W. 335 (1931). There, the plaintiff was walking along a street when the defendant's growling dog approached her in a crouched position with teeth bared, causing her to faint. As a result, she suffered nervous prostration. Id. at 755, 235 N.W. at 337. Citing Hanford, we noted that there can be liability for physical injuries which are proximately caused by fright and terror. We concluded that the defendant was liable to the plaintiff for her injuries. Rasmussen v. Benson, 135 Neb. 232, 280 N.W. 890 (1938), involved a dairy farmer who bought a sack of unlabeled bran at a farm sale and fed it to his cows and other livestock. The next morning, after he had milked the cows and delivered the milk to his customers, the cows became very sick. Upon discovering this, the farmer notified all of his customers. The bran was subsequently found to contain arsenic. Most of the farmer's livestock later died, and he lost the dairy business he had built up over a 10-year period. As a result of the nervous shock caused by the poisoning of his livestock, the loss of his business, and the fear of communicating the poison to his customers, the farmer became fatally ill and died. According to the medical testimony, he died of a decompensated heart caused by an excessive emotional disturbance. Id. at 233, 280 N.W. at 890. In finding that the seller of the poisoned bran was liable for the farmer's death, we cited Hanford for the proposition that a physical injury resulting from an emotional upset produced by the negligence of another creates liability for damages. We noted that this proposition does not allow recovery for worry alone, unaccompanied by physical injury. We also clearly stated for the first time that recovery for physical injuries resulting from emotional distress is not limited to situations in which the fright was accompanied by physical impact. In Fournell v. Usher Pest Control Co., 208 Neb. 684, 305 N.W.2d 605 (1981), a young couple with two small children requested a termite inspection of a home they were buying. The defendant's report indicated there was termite activity at one time, but no present damage. Approximately 3 months later, extensive termite damage was discovered, and the wife subsequently sought medical attention because she was constantly crying, could not sleep, and was deeply depressed. She was hospitalized on three occasions and was treated by a psychiatrist for over 3 years. Evidence indicated her mental distress was caused by the discovery of the termite infestation and the resulting damage to her home. This court noted that although we had abrogated the impact rule, a plaintiff seeking recovery for negligently inflicted emotional distress was still required to show (1) that some type of physical injury resulted from the negligently inflicted suffering and (2) that the plaintiff was within the `zone of danger' or actually feared for his or her own safety. Id. at 687, 305 N.W.2d at 607. Finding that the wife had not suffered any physical injury and that she had never been placed in fear of bodily harm to herself or anyone else, we held that her mental distress was not actionable. We distinguished Rasmussen v. Benson, supra , on the basis that the farmer suffered actual personal loss and that the seller's act was so wanton and reckless as to approach intentional injury. A dissent in Fournell v. Usher Pest Control Co., supra , argued that the requirement that emotional harm must manifest itself in bodily harm was outmoded and should be rejected. Id. at 690, 305 N.W.2d at 608. The dissent reasoned: To suggest that a psychological injury is not as grievous as a physical injury is to ignore reality. And to further suggest that if one can be sufficiently mentally disturbed so as to suffer a coronary occlusion, he or she may recover in tort, but if he or she simply becomes an emotionally distressed person, reduced to sniveling and crying and attempting suicide, he or she may not recover, does not seem to me to be founded upon any rational basis. Id. at 690-91, 305 N.W.2d at 608. The dissent continued: To therefore require that, before one who is mentally injured may recover, he must at least regurgitate once seems to me to be imposing upon the law a requirement that makes little or no sense. As I indicated at the outset, I would join with those jurisdictions which have adopted what I perceive to be the more modern view and would permit a cause of action to exist for mental anguish, absent bodily harm or other compensable damage. Id. at 697, 305 N.W.2d at 611. Four years later, this court decided James v. Lieb, 221 Neb. 47, 375 N.W.2d 109 (1985). In that case, two young siblings were riding their bicycles when a garbage truck negligently backed through a stop sign, killing the girl as her brother helplessly watched. The brother became physically ill and suffered emotional distress. An action brought by the parents on behalf of their son was dismissed by the trial court based on a finding that the petition failed to meet the requirements of Fournell v. Usher Pest Control Co., 208 Neb. 684, 305 N.W.2d 605 (1981), because it did not allege that the boy was within the `zone of danger' or feared for his own safety. James v. Lieb, 221 Neb. at 48, 375 N.W.2d at 111. On appeal, we emphasized that Fournell concerned recovery by an alleged `direct victim' of the defendant's negligence, while James presented the issue of under what circumstances a bystander could recover for negligent infliction of emotional distress. James v. Lieb, 221 Neb. at 49, 375 N.W.2d at 111. We defined `bystander[s]' as those persons who are not immediately threatened with physical injury nor placed in fear for their own safety by the defendant's negligence. Id. In our analysis, we noted that California had abolished the zone-of-danger rule and allowed bystander recovery in Dillon v. Legg, 68 Cal.2d 728, 441 P.2d 912, 69 Cal.Rptr. 72 (1968). James v. Lieb, supra . After examining the implications of Dillon, we concluded that the Dillon approach based upon the reasonable foreseeability of the harm [is] a more logical and just method of determining a defendant's liability than the artificial boundaries of recovery drawn by the `zone of danger' rule. James v. Lieb, 221 Neb. at 54, 375 N.W.2d at 114. After so concluding, we adopted the foreseeability approach of Dillon, with certain modifications. First, we held that the relationship between the plaintiff and the victim was the most valuable in determining foreseeability, and thus required that there be a marital or intimate familial relationship between the plaintiff bystander and the victim. We then noted that the plaintiff was not required to experience actual sensory perception of the injury. Finally, we held that the emotional trauma must result from either death or serious injury to the victim. Finally, but significantly, we addressed the Fournell requirement that a plaintiff must present evidence of a physical injury resulting from the emotional trauma. Agreeing with the rationale of the Fournell dissent, we rejected the physical injury requirement, noting that [w]hile physical manifestation of the psychological injury may be highly persuasive, such proof is not necessary given the current state of medical science and advances in psychology. James v. Lieb, 221 Neb. at 58, 375 N.W.2d at 116. James v. Lieb, 221 Neb. 47, 375 N.W.2d 109 (1985), clearly adopted a modified version of the Dillon test to be applied in bystander cases. Notably, however, James specifically overruled Fournell v. Usher Pest Control Co., supra , only to the extent that Fournell was in conflict with James. Because Fournell involved a direct victim of the defendant's negligence, while James involved a bystander, James did not completely abolish the zone-of-danger rule in Nebraska. The zone-of-danger rule is still applicable in direct-victim cases, and the modified Dillon rule is applicable in bystander cases. See Sell v. Mary Lanning Memorial Hosp., 243 Neb. 266, 270, 498 N.W.2d 522, 524 (1993) (recognizing that notwithstanding James v. Lieb, supra , an action for negligent infliction of emotional distress may still be maintained by a `direct victim' of a defendant's negligence). Clearly, however, James did abolish the requirement that the emotional injury must be manifested in physical symptoms in order to be actionable, regardless of whether the claim is asserted by a bystander or by a direct victim of a negligent act. Our jurisprudence from Hanford v. Omaha & C.B. Street R. Co., 113 Neb. 423, 203 N.W. 643 (1925), through James v. Lieb, supra , expanded the class of plaintiffs who may recover for emotional injuries to include both direct victims and certain bystanders, without regard to whether there was a contemporaneous physical injury. However, as our law has evolved since James, we have placed specific limitations on the type of emotional injury which may be compensable in a negligence action. In Turek v. St. Elizabeth Comm. Health Ctr., 241 Neb. 467, 488 N.W.2d 567 (1992), the plaintiff claimed that a nurse was negligent in performing medical procedures upon him which were beyond the scope of her licensure. He alleged that as a proximate result of the nurse's negligence, he suffered headaches, sleeplessness, vomiting, and severe emotional distress. In determining whether such damages were recoverable, we adopted the standard used in intentional infliction of emotional distress cases which states that in order for emotional distress to be compensable, it must be severe. Id. at 481, 488 N.W.2d at 576, citing Hassing v. Wortman, 214 Neb. 154, 333 N.W.2d 765 (1983), and Pick v. Fordyce Co-op Credit Assn., 225 Neb. 714, 408 N.W.2d 248 (1987). Under this standard, we held that the plaintiff's claimed emotional injury was, as a matter of law, not of sufficient severity to warrant compensation. Turek v. St. Elizabeth Comm. Health Ctr., 241 Neb. at 481, 488 N.W.2d at 576. We refined the test for compensability of negligently inflicted emotional injury in Schleich v. Archbishop Bergan Mercy Hosp., 241 Neb. 765, 491 N.W.2d 307 (1992). The plaintiff in that case was the mother of a patient who died while recovering from surgery at a hospital. Hospital officials notified the coroner that they considered the death suspicious, and as a result, the plaintiff was briefly detained and interviewed by police. She claimed to have suffered emotional distress resulting from the negligence of the hospital in notifying police of the death, and a jury returned a verdict in her favor. Reversing on appeal, we concluded that the evidence did not establish either negligence or compensable injury. With respect to the latter, we wrote that in order to be recoverable, emotional distress must have been so severe that no reasonable person could have been expected to endure it and that the emotional anguish or mental harm must be medically diagnosable and must be of sufficient severity that it is medically significant. Id. at 770-71, 491 N.W.2d at 310-11. Because the plaintiff had presented no medical evidence in support of her claim, we held that she failed as a matter of law to prove that she had suffered severe emotional distress. We have continued to apply this two-pronged test in negligence actions where damages are sought for purely emotional injury. See, e.g., Sell v. Mary Lanning Memorial Hosp., 243 Neb. 266, 498 N.W.2d 522 (1993); Parrish v. Omaha Pub. Power Dist., 242 Neb. 731, 496 N.W.2d 914 (1993).