Opinion ID: 852590
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Temporal and Relationship Determinations Under Groves

Text: The test announced in Groves for bystander recovery for negligent infliction of emotional distress sets requirements of relationship between the parties and proximity of the plaintiff to the scene. We have not addressed whether these are questions of law or fact or mixed questions of law and fact. For the reasons given below, we conclude that both the relationship and proximity requirements under Groves are issues of law. For over a century, Indiana law allowed damages for negligent infliction of emotional distress only when the distress was accompanied by and resulted from a physical injury caused by an impact to the person seeking recovery. Shuamber v. Henderson, 579 N.E.2d 452, 454 (Ind.1991) (citing N.Y., Chicago & St. Louis R.R. Co. v. Henderson, 237 Ind. 456, 477, 146 N.E.2d 531, 543 (1957); Boston v. Chesapeake & Ohio Ry. Co., 223 Ind. 425, 428-29, 61 N.E.2d 326, 327 (1945); Indianapolis St. Ry. Co. v. Ray, 167 Ind. 236, 245-46, 78 N.E. 978, 980 (1906)). This requirement of both impact and physical injury is known as the traditional impact rule. See, e.g., Bader v. Johnson, 732 N.E.2d 1212, 1221 (Ind.2000); Lachenman v. Stice, 838 N.E.2d 451, 457 (Ind.Ct.App. 2005), trans. denied, 855 N.E.2d 1008 (Ind. 2006). Since 1991, this Court has allowed recovery for negligent infliction of emotional distress under some circumstances where the traditional impact rule is not satisfied. Shuamber, 579 N.E.2d at 456; see also Groves, 729 N.E.2d at 573. In Shuamber, we adopted a modified impact rule that required impact but not necessarily physical injury: [w]hen . . . a plaintiff sustains a direct impact by the negligence of another and, by virtue of that direct involvement sustains an emotional trauma which is serious in nature and of a kind and extent normally expected to occur in a reasonable person, . . . such a plaintiff is entitled to maintain an action to recover for that emotional trauma without regard to whether the emotional trauma arises out of or accompanies any physical injury to the plaintiff. 579 N.E.2d at 456. In Groves, we allowed bystander recovery of damages for negligent infliction of emotional distress based on direct involvement with the accident: a bystander may . . . establish direct involvement by proving that the plaintiff actually witnessed or came on the scene soon after the death or severe injury of a loved one with a relationship to the plaintiff analogous to a spouse, parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling caused by the defendant's negligent or otherwise tortuous [sic] conduct. 729 N.E.2d at 573. This has been referred to as the bystander or relative bystander rule. E.g., Lachenman, 838 N.E.2d at 458. Groves followed Bowen v. Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Co., 183 Wis.2d 627, 517 N.W.2d 432 (1994) in adopting this test. 729 N.E.2d at 572. In Bowen, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that the plaintiff's complaint had set forth the requirements for recovery damages for negligent infliction of emotional distress, namely, negligent conduct, causation, and injury. 517 N.W.2d at 443. The court then noted that it did not necessarily follow that the claim must be allowed to go forward. Id. A court may decide, as a matter of law, that considerations of public policy require dismissal of the claim. Id. The Bowen court pointed out that public policy considerations were an aspect of legal cause and that the application of public policy considerations is a function solely of the court. Id. (emphasis added). Bowen explained that recovery for negligent infliction of emotional distress raised two concerns: (1) establishing authenticity of the claim and (2) ensuring fairness of the financial burden placed upon a defendant whose conduct was negligent. Id. The court set forth the public policy considerations that underlie these concerns: (1) whether the injury is too remote from the negligence; (2) whether the injury is wholly out of proportion to the culpability of the negligent tortfeasor; (3) whether in retrospect it appears too extraordinary that the negligence should have brought about the harm; (4) whether allowance of recovery would place an unreasonable burden on the negligent tortfeasor; (5) whether allowance of recovery would be too likely to open the way to fraudulent claims; [and] (6) whether allowance of recovery would enter a field that has no sensible or just stopping point. Id. at 444. Bowen took the view that a court should consider three factors in determining on the basis of public policy whether to preclude liability for bystander recovery for negligent infliction of emotional distress. These were the severity of the victim's injury, the relationship of the plaintiff to the victim, and circumstances surrounding the plaintiff's discovery of the victim's injury. As Bowen explained, [t]hese factors relate to the underlying principles of the tort; they are relevant to measuring the authenticity of the claim and the limits of liability for emotional harm resulting from a defendant's negligence. Id. at 445-46. We think this approach is consistent with the basic concerns that have historically limited recovery for negligent infliction of emotional distress. We agree with Bowen that these factors present issues of law. Id. at 443-46. Rules of law are designed to promote consistency and predictability. See generally MacLafferty v. MacLafferty, 829 N.E.2d 938, 941 (Ind.2005). In Groves, we noted that the three criteria from Bowen provide a . . . basis for distinguishing legitimate claims of emotional distress from the mere spurious. Groves, 729 N.E.2d at 572. These criteria are derived from the public policy considerations that underlie and define a claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress. They therefore are issues of law for a court to resolve.