Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress (NIED)

Question 1

generally, how does a defendant breach the duty to avoid negligent infliction of emotional distress?

Answer 1

when they create a foreseeable risk of physical injury to the plaintiff

Question 2

what must a plaintiff show to recover for NIED (in addition to defendant negligence)?

Answer 2

in addition to defendant negligence, the plaintiff must show:
1) they were in the zone of danger (near miss)
2) they suffered diagnosable physical consequences from the distress

Question 3

what is a sufficient “near miss” for the plaintiff to be in the zone of danger?

Answer 3

plaintiff is so close that they are subject to a high risk of physical impact

Question 4

how can a plaintiff-bystander outside the zone of danger recover for NIED?

Answer 4

by showing that:
1) they were present at the scene of the injury
2) they personallysaw the defendant negligently injure someone,
2) they are closely related to the person injured by the defendant

Question 5

true or false: generally, plaintiff-bystanders need not show physical symptoms from their distress to recover under NIED.

Answer 5

TRUE

Question 6

when can a plaintiff in special (professional) relationship with defendant recover for NIED?

Answer 6

plaintiff can recover if it’s highly foreseeable that defendant’s careless performance of a duty arising from the relationship would produe emotional distress
**EX = doctor tells patient they have cancer when they don’t (b/c of negligent testing)