Husband's Claim for Emotional Distress Dismissed by Statute
by
Joseph C. Maya on May. 03, 2017
Accident & Injury Accident & Injury Personal Injury Lawsuit & Dispute Lawsuit
Summary: Blog post about about a claim for emotional distress that was barred by the statute protecting "good samaritans" such as first responders.
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The complaint did not allege an appropriate basis for a bystander emotional distress claim, since any emotional shock suffered by the husband resulted from his learning of the wife's injury from others after its occurrence.
The plaintiff wife fell in her home an injured her leg. When the emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and the fire departments arrived, they manually carried her from the spot where she fell to an ambulance. The wife later alleged her shoulder was injured when she was carried. The defendant EMTs moved for summary judgment.
The facts of the case are as follows. In October 1995, the plaintiff, Mrs. Hansen, fell at her home and injured her leg. She could not move from the spot where she fell. Her husband, the co-plaintiff, called 911, and the defendant Mohegan Fire Company and Montville Fire Company arrived. At the time of the accident, Mrs. Hansen was 5’3” and weighed 195 pounds. The lead firefighter concluded that due to the plaintiff’s size and location, they could not position a stretcher to carry her out of the house. The plaintiff claims that while being manually carried from the house, her arm was sharply pulled by the firefighters, causing severe injury to her rotator cuff. The plaintiff filed numerous claims of negligence and gross negligence against the fire company. Her husband also filed claim for emotional distress caused by witnessing injury to his wife.
The court dismissed a majority of the plaintiff’s negligence claims, because Connecticut “Good Samaritan” laws provide immunity to emergency responders for claims resulting from ordinary negligence. The court concluded that the same statutory immunity applied to Mr. Hansen’s claims for emotional distress. “To allow a bystander emotional distress, given the objectives sought to be accomplished by our Good Samaritan Law would not be a rational result.”
At Maya Murphy, P.C., our personal injury attorneys are dedicated to achieving the best results for individuals and their family members and loved ones whose daily lives have been disrupted by injury, whether caused by a motor vehicle or pedestrian accident, a slip and fall, medical malpractice, a defective product, or otherwise. Our attorneys are not afraid to aggressively pursue and litigate cases and have extensive experience litigating personal injury matters in both state and federal courts, and always with regard to the unique circumstances of our client and the injury he or she has sustained.
Source: Hansen v. Mohegan Fire Co., 2001 Conn. Super. LEXIS 2864 (Conn. Super. October 1, 2001)
