The United States Supreme Court denied cert in Flax v. DaimlerChrysler Corporation, the products liability, punitive damages, and negligent infliction of the emotional distress case decided by the Tennessee Supreme Court last year. Here is my post from last July on the decision by the Tennessee court.
CNN reports that Roberto Alomar has been sued in New York by his ex-girlfriend, who alleges that he exposed her to the HIV virus by engaging in unprotected sex with her while he was suffering from HIV/AIDS. She has tested negative for the disease. Here is a copy of the…
The January 2009 edition of the Tennessee Bar Journal includes my quarterly column on tort law. This column is titled "NIED Claims after Flax and Eskin." For some reason, the online version of the article has some missing words and other problems, but it includes the important stuff.
The Tennessee Supreme Court has released the opinion in Eskin v. Bartee and expanded the scope of recovery for negligent infliction of emotional distress. The bottom line: "we have determined that it is appropriate and fair to permit recovery of damages for the negligent infliction of emotional distress by plaintiffs who…
Sylvius von Saucken, a partner in the Garretson firm, has written this analysis of the opinion in Murphy v. United States, released by D.C. Court of Appeals on July 3, 2007. The case addresses the taxability of damage awards in cases alleging emotional distress. Here, in bold, is his analysis…
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has released an en banc opinion in Murphy v. Internal Revenue Service, No. 05-5139 (July 3, 2007). The summary of the opinion as prepared by the Court: "Marrita Murphy brought this suit to recover income taxes she paid on the compensatory damages for emotional…
The Kentucky Supreme Court has ruled that damages for pre-impact fear cannot be recovered in a wrongful death case. The Court said that "The proof of the fear in this case the testimony of a person at the scene of the accident that the decedent’s facial expression showed she saw…
The Indiana Supreme Court has ruled that the fiancee of a man who came upon a crash site involving a collision between her fiancee and defendant could not sue for emotional distress. Indiana law says that "[w]hen . . . a plaintiff sustains a direct impact by the negligence of another…
The New Hampshire Supreme Court has held that a boyfriend riding a motorcycle could not bring an emotional distress claim against another driver for injuries caused as a result witnessing the death of his passenger (who was also his girlfriend). The issue was "did the trial court err in determining…
The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that the three-year statute of limitation applies for emotional distess claims arising out of injury to property "inspired by fraud, malice or like motives." The Trial Court and Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal of the claim for emotional injuries because the lawsuit was not…