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 Williams v. Baker, 572 A.2d 1062 (D.C. 1990) (en banc), a case quite similar to the present one in respects here relevant, the plaintiff asked the court to abandon the traditional "impact rule," which provided that there could be no recovery for negligently inflicted emotional distress in the absence of physical injury. Id. at 1064. One judge of this court argued that a common law rule which had been in effect for more than two centuries should not be judicially abrogated where "[n]either Congress nor any local government body has ever seen fit to change it." Id. at 1073 (opinion of Reilly, J.). Notwithstanding the lack of any evidence that the legislature was dissatisfied with existing law, the en banc court overruled its well-entrenched prior jurisprudence by a vote of eight to one. The court noted that "[t]he vast majority of jurisdictions ... have abandoned or refused to adopt the impact rule," id. at 1066, and cited a number of scholarly articles and commentaries in support of its decision. Id. at 1065-69.

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