Opinion ID: 1451277
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Whether Emotional Distress Constitutes Accidental Harm

Text: First Insurance argues that the statutory definition of accidental harm does not support an expansive reading to include emotional distress because, when the legislature enacted Hawai`i's original no-fault law, it intended accidental harm to be synonymous with bodily injury as used in the predecessor statute, Revised Laws of Hawai`i (RLH) § 160-103 (1955). [7] First Insurance contends that if the legislature had intended accidental harm to encompass emotional distress, it would have clearly included it in the statutory definition insofar as such a claim was first recognized in Rodrigues v. State, 52 Haw. 156, 472 P.2d 509 (1970)  a case decided prior to the enactment of the no-fault law. First Insurance takes the position that the express absence of the phrase emotional distress from the statutory definition of accidental harm clearly indicates that the legislature did not intend for such a tort claim to constitute accidental harm. Statutory language `must be read in the context of the entire statute and construed in a manner consistent with the purpose of the statutes.' Methven-Abreu v. The Hawaiian Ins. & Guar. Co., Ltd., 73 Haw. 385, 392, 834 P.2d 279, 284 (citing Pacific Ins. Co. v. Oregon Auto. Ins. Co., 53 Haw. 208, 212, 490 P.2d 899, 902 (1971)), recon. denied, 73 Haw. 625, 838 P.2d 860 (1992). As previously stated, HRS § 294-2(1) defines accidental harm as bodily injury, death, sickness, or disease caused by a motor vehicle accident to a person. Because this definition does not expressly include or exclude emotional distress, we must `ascertain and give effect to the legislature's intention to the fullest degree,' id. (citation omitted), in determining whether emotional distress is encompassed within bodily injury, death, sickness, or disease. HRS § 294-2(1). Although we have not previously had the occasion to address this issue, other jurisdictions have construed similar terminology. For example, in Lavanant v. General Accident Insurance Co., 164 A.D.2d 73, 561 N.Y.S.2d 164 (1990), the court determined that an insurance policy providing indemnity for damages resulting from bodily injury, which the policy defined as bodily injury, sickness or disease, included emotional distress. Id. at 75, 79, 561 N.Y.S.2d at 165, 168. The New York court, reviewing several cases from other jurisdictions [8] interpreting insurance policies that provided damages for bodily injury, which expressly included bodily injury, sickness or disease, determined that such jurisdictions had expanded the scope of bodily injury beyond physical harm to include emotional and psychological effects of incidents. Id. at 78, 561 N.Y.S.2d at 167-68. We agree with the reasoning in Lavanant wherein the court concluded that an average person reading the insurance policy would not conclude that mental anguish[ [9] ] was excluded from the ambit of `sickness.' Id. at 81, 561 N.Y.S.2d at 168; see also Voorhees v. Preferred Mut. Ins. Co., 246 N.J.Super. 564, 588 A.2d 417, 420-23, cert. denied, 126 N.J. 340, 598 A.2d 897 (1991), aff'd, 128 N.J. 165, 607 A.2d 1255 (1992). Although the New York court interpreted bodily injury as defined in an insurance policy, the definition is virtually identical to the definition of accidental harm under HRS § 294-2(1). Accidental harm under HRS § 294-2(1) includes sickness or disease. Additionally, this court has acknowledged the intertwining of the physical and emotional aspects involved in negligently-inflicted emotional distress. See Leong v. Takasaki, 55 Haw. 398, 411-13, 520 P.2d 758, 766-67 (1974) (negligently-inflicted mental distress may be characterized as a reaction to a traumatic stimulus, which may be physical or purely psychic). Further, because the terms sickness and disease have not been defined by the legislature, we look to their plain and common meaning for guidance. Sickness means an ailment of such character as to affect the general soundness of health [.] Black's Law Dictionary at 1380 (6th ed. 1990) (emphasis added). Disease is defined as any deranged or depraved condition, as of the mind, society, etc. Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language at 411 (1989). We believe such definitions include emotional distress to the extent that it may affect the general soundness of health and involve a depraved condition... of the mind. We therefore agree with the trial court's ruling that accidental harm, under HRS chapter 294, includes emotional distress.