Consolidated Rail Corporation v. Gottshall, 512 U.S. 532, 18 (1994)

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Cite as: 512 U. S. 532 (1994)

Opinion of the Court

The courts of nearly half the States now allow bystanders outside of the zone of danger to obtain recovery in certain circumstances for emotional distress brought on by witnessing the injury or death of a third party (who typically must be a close relative of the bystander) that is caused by the defendant's negligence.10 Most of these jurisdictions have adopted the Dillon factors either verbatim or with variations and additions, and have held some or all of these factors to be substantive limitations on recovery.11

III

A

Having laid out the relevant legal framework, we turn to the questions presented. As an initial matter, we agree

10 See Croft v. Wicker, 737 P. 2d 789 (Alaska 1987); Thing v. La Chusa, 48 Cal. 3d 644, 771 P. 2d 814 (1989); Champion v. Gray, 478 So. 2d 17 (Fla. 1985); Fineran v. Pickett, 465 N. W. 2d 662 (Iowa 1991); Lejeune v. Rayne Branch Hosp., 556 So. 2d 559 (La. 1990); Cameron v. Pepin, 610 A. 2d 279 (Me. 1992); Stockdale v. Bird & Son, Inc., 399 Mass. 249, 503 N. E. 2d 951 (1987); Nugent v. Bauermeister, 195 Mich. App. 158, 489 N. W. 2d 148 (1992), appeal denied, 442 Mich. 929, 503 N. W. 2d 904 (1993); Entex, Inc. v. McGuire, 414 So. 2d 437 (Miss. 1982); Maguire v. State, 254 Mont. 178, 835 P. 2d 755 (1992); James v. Lieb, 221 Neb. 47, 375 N. W. 2d 109 (1985); Buck v. Greyhound Lines, Inc., 105 Nev. 756, 783 P. 2d 437 (1989); Wilder v. Keene, 131 N. H. 599, 557 A. 2d 636 (1989); Frame v. Kothari, 115 N. J. 638, 560 A. 2d 675 (1989); Folz v. State, 110 N. M. 457, 797 P. 2d 246 (1990); Johnson v. Ruark Obstetrics and Gynecology Assocs., 327 N. C. 283, 395 S. E. 2d 85 (1990); Paugh v. Hanks, 6 Ohio St. 3d 72, 451 N. E. 2d 759 (1983); Sinn v. Burd, 486 Pa. 146, 404 A. 2d 672 (1979); Reilly v. United States, 547 A. 2d 894 (R. I. 1988); Kinard v. Augusta Sash & Door Co., 286 S. C. 579, 336 S. E. 2d 465 (1985); Boyles v. Kerr, 855 S. W. 2d 593 (Tex. 1993); Gain v. Carroll Mill Co., 114 Wash. 2d 254, 787 P. 2d 553 (1990); Heldreth v. Marrs, 188 W. Va. 481, 425 S. E. 2d 157 (1992); Contreras v. Carbon County School Dist. No. 1, 843 P. 2d 589 (Wyo. 1992).

11 Many jurisdictions that follow the zone of danger or relative bystander tests also require that a plaintiff demonstrate a "physical manifestation" of an alleged emotional injury, that is, a physical injury or effect that is the direct result of the emotional injury, in order to recover. See, e. g., Garvis v. Employers Mut. Casualty Co., 497 N. W. 2d 254 (Minn. 1993).

549

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