432
Opinion of the Court
34 U. Fla. L. Rev. 477, 488-489 (1982)) (" '[T]hose within the zone of danger of physical impact' " should be able to " 'recover for fright' " because " 'a near miss may be as frightening as a direct hit' ").
Taken together, language and cited precedent indicate that the words "physical impact" do not encompass every form of "physical contact." And, in particular, they do not include a contact that amounts to no more than an exposure—an exposure, such as that before us, to a substance that poses some future risk of disease and which contact causes emotional distress only because the worker learns that he may become ill after a substantial period of time.
Third, common-law precedent does not favor the plaintiff. Common-law courts do permit a plaintiff who suffers from a disease to recover for related negligently caused emotional distress, see supra, at 429, and some courts permit a plaintiff who exhibits a physical symptom of exposure to recover, see, e. g., Herber v. Johns-Manville Corp., 785 F. 2d 79, 85 (CA3 1986); Mauro v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., 225 N. J. Super. 196, 542 A. 2d 16 (App. Div. 1988). But with only a few exceptions, common-law courts have denied recovery to those who, like Buckley, are disease and symptom free. E. g., Burns v. Jacquays Mining Corp., 156 Ariz. 375, 752 P. 2d 28 (Ct. App. 1987), review dism'd, 162 Ariz. 186, 781 P. 2d 1373 (1989); Mergenthaler v. Asbestos Corp. of Am., 480 A. 2d 647 (Del. 1984); Eagle-Picher Industries, Inc. v. Cox, 481 So. 2d 517 (Fla. App. 1985), review denied, 492 So. 2d 1331 (Fla. 1986); Capital Holding Corp. v. Bailey, 873 S. W. 2d 187 (Ky. 1994); Payton v. Abbott Labs, 386 Mass. 540, 437 N. E. 2d 171 (1982); Simmons v. Pacor, Inc., 543 Pa. 664, 674 A. 2d 232 (1996); Ball v. Joy Technologies, Inc., 958 F. 2d 36 (CA4 1991); Deleski v. Raymark Industries, Inc., 819 F. 2d 377 (CA3 1987) (Pennsylvania and New Jersey law); Adams v. Johns-Manville Sales Corp., 783 F. 2d 589 (CA5 1986) (Louisiana law); Wisniewski v. Johns-Manville Corp., 759 F. 2d 271 (CA3 1985) (Pennsylvania law); In re Hawaii Federal
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