Carl v. Children's Hospital, 702 A.2d 159 (1997)

Citation: Carl v. Children's Hospital, 702 A.2d 159 (1997)
Parent Document: Carl v. Children's Hospital, 702 A.2d 159 (1997)
Jurisdiction: DC (municipal)
Effective Date: 1997-09-23
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2395626/carl-v-childrens-hospital/ ↗

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In 1978, this court again changed the law by extending the basis for manufacturer's liability from breach of implied warranty to strict liability in tort, and from the sale of goods to the sale of newly constructed cooperative homes.[13] Twelve years later, in 1990, this court further expanded the law, changing the rule governing recovery of damages for negligent infliction of emotional distress. Previously, recovery had been limited to cases where the emotional injury flowed from direct physical injury; we rewrote the law, modestly, to allow recovery without physical injury if the plaintiff, in witnessing physical danger to a member of her immediate family, was in a zone of physical danger herself and, as a result, feared for her own safety.[14] Over fifty years earlier in 1939, the federal court of appeals had called the rule we eventually discarded in 1990barring recovery for "`mental pain or suffering caused by shock from the accident, not traceable to the physical injuries'"a rule of law "counter to the whole current of modern authority."[15] At that time, in recognizing a new tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress resulting in physical harm, the court elaborated on its role as law-maker:

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