430
Opinion of the Court
for example, does permit recovery for emotional distress where that distress accompanies a physical injury, see, e. g., Simmons v. Pacor, Inc., 543 Pa. 664, 678, 674 A. 2d 232, 239 (1996); Restatement (Second) of Torts § 924(a) (1977), and it often permits recovery for distress suffered by a close relative who witnesses the physical injury of a negligence victim, e. g., Dillon v. Legg, 68 Cal. 2d 728, 441 P. 2d 912 (1968); Gottshall, 512 U. S., at 549, n. 10 (citing cases). The Court then held that FELA § 1, mirroring the law of many States, sometimes permitted recovery "for damages for negligent infliction of emotional distress," id., at 550, and, in particular, it does so where a plaintiff seeking such damages satisfies the common law's "zone of danger" test. It defined that test by stating that the law permits "recovery for emotional injury" by
"those plaintiffs who sustain a physical impact as a result of a defendant's negligent conduct, or who are placed in immediate risk of physical harm by that conduct." Id., at 547-548 (emphasis added).
The case before us, as we have said, focuses on the italicized words "physical impact." The Second Circuit interpreted those words as including a simple physical contact with a substance that might cause a disease at a future time, so long as the contact was of a kind that would "cause fear in a reasonable person." 79 F. 3d, at 1344. In our view, however, the "physical impact" to which Gottshall referred does not include a simple physical contact with a substance that might cause a disease at a substantially later time— where that substance, or related circumstance, threatens no harm other than that disease-related risk.
First, Gottshall cited many state cases in support of its adoption of the "zone of danger" test quoted above. And in each case where recovery for emotional distress was permitted, the case involved a threatened physical contact that caused, or might have caused, immediate traumatic harm.
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