Opinion ID: 1277449
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: plaintiff's relationship to the victim

Text: One factor which courts agree must be included in the test is whether the plaintiff has a close relationship with the injury victim. [9] Courts have recognized that the relationship between the plaintiff and the injury victim is valuable in determining foreseeability, and therefore is an essential element in establishing liability. James v. Lieb, supra ; Portee v. Jaffee, supra ; D'Ambra v. United States, 114 R.I. 643, 338 A.2d 524 (1975). In James v. Lieb , [10] the Supreme Court of Nebraska, in discussing the importance of the marital or familial relationship between the plaintiff and the injury victim, recognized that medical authorities are generally in agreement that a mere bystander who has no significant relationship with the victim will not suffer the profound, systematic mental and emotional reaction likely to befall a close relative as a result of witnessing or learning of the victim's death. 375 N.W.2d at 115. To satisfy this element of the test, the James court chose not to require a relationship within a certain degree of consanguinity, [11] but instead decided to require that a marital or close familial relationship exist between the plaintiff and the injury victim. Id. The James court pointed out that although their decision would not exclude aunts, uncles and grandparents of an injury victim from bringing such actions, they would have a heavier burden of proving a significant attachment. Id. We agree with the Supreme Court of Nebraska and other courts which have held that the plaintiff must have a close marital or familial relationship with the injury victim. Clearly, a plaintiff who witnesses a closely related person severely injured or killed by the negligence of another will experience a more profound emotional trauma than a plaintiff who has no relationship with the injury victim. It is the very nature of the relationship between the plaintiff and the victim which makes the emotional reaction experienced by the plaintiff so poignant. We shall therefore require, as one element of the test, that a close marital or familial relationship exist between the plaintiff and the victim.