Consolidated Rail Corporation v. Gottshall, 512 U.S. 532, 33 (1994)

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564

CONSOLIDATED RAIL CORPORATION v. GOTTSHALL

Ginsburg, J., dissenting

ety, sleep onset insomnia, cold sweats, . . . nausea, physical weakness, repetitive nightmares and a fear of leaving home." Ibid.; see also id., at 373 (noting that Conrail "wisely declined" to attack Gottshall's claim as fraudulent). Gott-shall's afflictions, the Court of Appeals observed, satisfied the "physical manifestation" limitation that some States, and the Second Restatement of Torts, place on emotional distress recovery. See id., at 373-374 (citing cases); Restatement (Second) of Torts § 436A (1965) (no liability for emotional distress without "bodily harm or other compensable damage"); ibid., Comment c ("[L]ong continued nausea or headaches may amount to physical illness, which is bodily harm; . . . long continued mental disturbance . . . may be classified by the courts as illness" and thus be compensable). Cf. Buell, 480 U. S., at 570, n. 22 (suggesting a distinction between claims for "pure emotional injury" and those involving "physical symptoms in addition to . . . severe psychological illness").

The Court of Appeals also inspected the facts under the "bystande[r]" test, versions of which have been adopted by nearly half the States. See ante, at 549. While acknowledging that Gottshall did not satisfy the more restrictive versions of the "bystander" test, the court observed that several States have allowed recovery even where, as here, the plaintiff and the victim of physical injury were unrelated by blood or marriage. See 988 F. 2d, at 371 (citing cases). Further, the court noted, given "the reality of the railway industry," rarely will one "se[e] another family member injured while working in the railroad yard." Id., at 372. A strict version of the bystander rule, therefore, would operate not to limit recovery to the most meritorious cases, but almost to preclude bystander recovery altogether.

To adapt the bystander rule to the FELA context, the court looked to the reasons for limiting bystander recovery: to avoid compensating plaintiffs with fraudulent or trivial claims, and to prevent liability from becoming "an intolerable

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