BCOR 320 1nd Edition Lecture 13 Injury Plaintiff must show genuine injury Future injury may be compensated but must determine at the time of the trial Damages are usually compensatory designed to restore what was lost In unusual cases they may be punitive Case Summary Ra v Superior Court Facts Michelle Ra and her husband Phil were shopping at an Armani Exchange when a large sign fell and hit Phil Ra causing him serious injury At the time of the injury Michelle Ra was standing about 10 to 15 feet away from Phil with her back to him Although she did not see the sign fall on her husband Michelle heard a loud bang turned saw her husband bent over in pain and rushed to his side Ten days later Michelle suffered a miscarriage which she attributed to the accident The Ra s sued Armani for negligence in allowing the sign to fall and for the emotional distress Michelle suffered Regarding Michelle s claim the trial court granted summary judgment to the store holding that Michelle had not made out a claim for bystander recovery because she did not see the accident happen Michelle appealed Issue May a bystander recover for emotional distress cause by an accident they did not see Holding Judgment for Armani affirmed Michelle testified during a deposition that she was not sure whether her husband was involved in any kind of accident at the time she heard the loud bang but she believed it was more likely than not that he was because the noise came from an area of the store where her husband was shopping The State Supreme Court has held that in order to recover as a bystander for negligent infliction of emotional distress the plaintiff must prove 1 that she is closely related to the injury victim 2 is present at the scene of the injury producing event at the time it occurs and is then aware that it is causing injury to the victim and 3 as a result suffers serious emotional distress a reaction beyond that which would be anticipated in a disinterested witness and which is not an abnormal response to the circumstance Defense Assumption of the risk A person who voluntarily engages in an activity known to be risky cannot recover is inured These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Contributory negligence In a few states if the plaintiff is at all negligent he cannot recover damages Comparative Negligence In most states if the plaintiff is negligent a percentage of negligence is applied to both the defendant and the plaintiff The plaintiff can recover from the defendant to the percentage that the defendant is negligent Strict Liability Some activities are so dangerous that the law imposes a high burden on them This is called strict liability Defective Products may incur strict liability Ultrahazardous Activities defendants are virtually always held liable for harm
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