Q.
A while ago, while I was crossing the street with my boyfriend, he was hit by a car and seriously injured. Immediately
after the accident, my boyfriend was hospitalized for two months and is currently suffering from the aftereffects of the accident.
Although I did not suffer any direct physical damage from the accident , I am suffering from great psychological pain to the point of needing psychiatric treatment due to the shock of seeing my boyfriend get hit by a car and get seriously injured .
Is there any way I can receive compensation for the psychological damage I suffered as a result of this accident?
A.
If you are not a direct victim of an accident that caused you injury, but a bystander who witnessed the accident and did not suffer any physical damage, you
may file a claim for compensation based on negligent infliction of emotional distress (“NIED”).
The standards for pursuing civil damages for mental harm caused by negligence vary greatly from state to state, but
California generally limits the scope of a claim for damages to “witnessing the accident through your senses at the same time as the accident occurred (as opposed to hearing about the accident afterward).”
Witnessing an accident here
is also limited in meaning by several precedents to the claimant being present at the scene of the accident and being aware that something was injuring the victim.
A landmark case regarding mental harm caused by negligence was Dillon v. Legg, decided by the California Supreme Court in 1968.
To summarize the case, the court ruled that the mother suffered mental damage after witnessing her child being hit by a car and killed while crossing a crosswalk, and awarded compensation.
If you want to proceed favorably with a lawsuit based on mental harm caused by negligence based on this case law,
you must be able to prove the following points:
- Did you witness the incident directly?
(This only applies if you witnessed the incident directly, not if you heard about it after it happened.) - Can you prove that the psychological damage is very serious?
(You will need supporting documentation, such as a doctor's diagnosis, to prove this.) - Are you a close relative of the accident victim, such as an immediate family member?
(In most cases of the Family Law, damages are recognized and compensation is awarded only to parents, grandparents, spouses, siblings, etc.)
In your case, since you directly witnessed the scene of the accident and have a doctor's diagnosis that proves that you have suffered serious mental damage as a result of witnessing the incident, these two clauses seem to be fine.
However, regarding the last third clause, "Are you in a close relationship with the victim?", since you are not an immediate family member or spouse, it seems difficult to apply compensation based on the precedents of the Family Law.
One silver lining, however, is that court decisions are not simply a mechanical application of legal principles, and
that the results can vary greatly depending on the differences in each individual case.
For example, there is a case where a plaintiff, who witnessed his unmarried lover and his child being stabbed to death by a knife and bleeding profusely,
filed a claim for damages based on the act of mental harm caused by negligence.
In this case, the couple lived together for about two years and tried to get married, but were unable to formally register the marriage.
In 1985, the California Superior Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, deeming that they had formed a family relationship.
This can be said to be a case law that shows that the legal marital relationship is not the only basis for confirming the relationship between the claimant and the victim .
As such, whether or not you can receive compensation can vary depending on the subtle differences in each case, and
the scope of compensation can also vary greatly, so if you are preparing to file a lawsuit, you need to confirm this with a lawyer.
Q.
A while ago, while I was crossing the street with my boyfriend, he was hit by a car and seriously injured. Immediately
after the accident, my boyfriend was hospitalized for two months and is currently suffering from the aftereffects of the accident.
Although I did not suffer any direct physical damage from the accident , I am suffering from great psychological pain to the point of needing psychiatric treatment due to the shock of seeing my boyfriend get hit by a car and get seriously injured .
Is there any way I can receive compensation for the psychological damage I suffered as a result of this accident?
A.
If you are not a direct victim of an accident that caused you injury, but a bystander who witnessed the accident and did not suffer any physical damage, you
may file a claim for compensation based on negligent infliction of emotional distress (“NIED”).
The standards for pursuing civil damages for mental harm caused by negligence vary greatly from state to state, but
California generally limits the scope of a claim for damages to “witnessing the accident through your senses at the same time as the accident occurred (as opposed to hearing about the accident afterward).”
Witnessing an accident here
is also limited in meaning by several precedents to the claimant being present at the scene of the accident and being aware that something was injuring the victim.
A landmark case regarding mental harm caused by negligence was Dillon v. Legg, decided by the California Supreme Court in 1968.
To summarize the case, the court ruled that the mother suffered mental damage after witnessing her child being hit by a car and killed while crossing a crosswalk, and awarded compensation.
If you want to proceed favorably with a lawsuit based on mental harm caused by negligence based on this case law,
you must be able to prove the following points:
(This only applies if you witnessed the incident directly, not if you heard about it after it happened.)
(You will need supporting documentation, such as a doctor's diagnosis, to prove this.)
(In most cases of the Family Law, damages are recognized and compensation is awarded only to parents, grandparents, spouses, siblings, etc.)
In your case, since you directly witnessed the scene of the accident and have a doctor's diagnosis that proves that you have suffered serious mental damage as a result of witnessing the incident, these two clauses seem to be fine.
However, regarding the last third clause, "Are you in a close relationship with the victim?", since you are not an immediate family member or spouse, it seems difficult to apply compensation based on the precedents of the Family Law.
One silver lining, however, is that court decisions are not simply a mechanical application of legal principles, and
that the results can vary greatly depending on the differences in each individual case.
For example, there is a case where a plaintiff, who witnessed his unmarried lover and his child being stabbed to death by a knife and bleeding profusely,
filed a claim for damages based on the act of mental harm caused by negligence.
In this case, the couple lived together for about two years and tried to get married, but were unable to formally register the marriage.
In 1985, the California Superior Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, deeming that they had formed a family relationship.
This can be said to be a case law that shows that the legal marital relationship is not the only basis for confirming the relationship between the claimant and the victim .
As such, whether or not you can receive compensation can vary depending on the subtle differences in each case, and
the scope of compensation can also vary greatly, so if you are preparing to file a lawsuit, you need to confirm this with a lawyer.