Court Opinion

ID: 9860373
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 23:19:49.98146+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:21:37.603573
License: Public Domain

*109ALLBEE, Justice
(dissenting).
Until today a damage action for the emotional distress of an unendangéred bystander who witnessed the negligent infliction of harm on another person was not recognized as a tort in this state. I am unwilling to join the court in its embracing of this beguiling concept. It is complex, fraught with problems and difficult to administer, as is conceded by even its most ardent supporters. E.g., W. Prosser, The Law of Torts, § 54 at 328-30, 333-35 (4th ed. 1971). Substantial factors militating against the cause of action include the remoteness of emotional distress from the negligent act, the fictional duty of one person to prevent another from being frightened by what he may by chance observe, the problem of the foreseeability of who may be distressed by an act, the nearly limitless possibilities for liability as well as the potential for fraudulent, collusive and nuisance claims. There is no point, however, in belaboring these concerns as they already have been the subject of considerable discussion by respectable authority. See, e.g., Dillon v. Legg, 68 Cal.2d 728, 748-52, 69 Cal.Rptr. 72, 85-88, 441 P.2d 912, 925-28 (1968) (Burke, J., dissenting); Stadler v. Cross, 295 N.W.2d 552, 553-55 (Minn.1980); Tobin v. Grossman, 24 N.Y.2d 609, 613-19, 301 N.Y.S.2d 554, 556-62, 249 N.E.2d 419, 421-24 (1969); Whetham v. Bismarck Hospital, 197 N.W.2d 678, 680-85 (N.D.1972); Shelton v. Russell Pipe and Foundry Co., 570 S.W.2d 861, 862-66 (Tenn.1978); Grimsby v. Samson, 85 Wash.2d 52, 55-57, 530 P.2d 291, 293-94 (1975). But neither these authorities nor I have succeeded in dissuading this court. Thus, I now simply record that I am not a party to the opening of this “Pandora’s box.”
LeGRAND, J., joins in this dissent.