Court Opinion

ID: 9715162
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 05:56:08.821555+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:32.165202
License: Public Domain

Quirico, J.
(dissenting). Although I am in full agreement with the court in its conclusion that Spade v. Lynn & Boston R.R., 168 Mass. 285 (1897), should be overruled, I do not believe that liability should be extended to the degree described by the court in its opinion here. Therefore, I dissent from the reversal of the dismissal of the complaints of the two plaintiffs.
It is my view that liability for negligently causing emotional distress that results in physical injury should be *570extended as far as would be allowed by the rule of the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 313 (1965). That section, while allowing recovery under some circumstances, provides that no recovery may be had for “illness or bodily harm of another which is caused by emotional distress arising solely from harm or peril to a third person, unless the negligence of the actor has otherwise created an unreasonable risk of bodily harm to the other.”1 I would agree also that if, contrary to the facts in the present cases, a parent2 had been present at the time of the alleged negligent conduct which caused the injury, and such parent had suffered emotional distress and resulting physical injury, then he or she should recover regardless of whether they were within the zone of risk of bodily harm created by the negligent act. See, e.g., Dillon v. Legg, 68 Cal. 2d 728, 730-731 (1968); D’Ambra v. United States, 114 R.I. 643, 657-658 (1975); W. Prosser, Torts § 54, at 334-335 (4th ed. 1971).3 I do not believe, however, that liability should be extended further *571to allow recovery by a parent who comes on the scene of an accident after an injury has occurred to the child but before the child is removed. It is my opinion that we should not prescribe rules that allow or deny recovery by the parent on the basis of the speed and efficiency of an ambulance team in responding to an accident call, or on the haste with which a parent can be notified and rushed to the accident scene.

 The Restatement of Torts § 313 (1934) specifically proposed no rule regarding recovery for emotional distress and resulting physical injury by a parent or spouse who witnessed the injury-causing negligent act. That section provided in part: “ Caveat: The Institute expresses no opinion as to whether an actor whose conduct is negligent as involving an unreasonable risk of causing bodily harm to a child or spouse is liable for an illness or other bodily harm caused to the parent or spouse who witnesses the peril or harm of the child or spouse and thereby suffers anxiety or shock which is the legal cause of the parent’s or spouse’s illness or other bodily harm.” Id. at 851.

 Although a parent was involved in the present cases, I believe the rule should apply similarly if a spouse or other close relative witnessed negligent conduct and injury.

 This was also apparently the view of a significant number of members of the American Law Institute who participated in the drafting of the Restatement (Second) of Torts (1965), since the Reporter’s notes to § 313 state that “the feeling of a number of those present at the Institute meeting, [was] that the situation of a mother who sees her child negligently killed before her eyes is one in which recovery would be justified.” Restatement (Second) of Torts Appendix § 313, Reporter’s notes at 11 (1966). The narrower position actually taken by the Institute in § 313 was in accordance with what it believed to be the “heavy weight of authority” at the time. Id.