Fife v. Astenius

Opinion

SONENSHINE, Acting P. J.

—The parents and brothers of Meghan K. Fife

appeal a summary judgment granted to Jennifer Astenius. The Fifes are seeking recovery for the alleged negligent infliction of emotional distress (hereafter NIED) caused when they heard a car crash and went to the street to discover Meghan had been injured. The Supreme Court’s guidelines for recovery in

Thing

v.

La Chusa

(1989) 48 Cal.3d 644 [257 Cal.Rptr. 865, 771 P.2d 814] require a plaintiff’s presence at the accident scene and an awareness that a relative is then being injured. The Fifes allege their perceptions of

[1092]

the accident and Meghan’s injuries were contemporaneous, within the

La Chusa

guidelines. We conclude they cannot recover for NEED because they did not know at the time the accident occurred that Meghan was being injured.

I

Meghan was injured when the truck in which she was a passenger collided with another car. The accident occurred on the street directly behind Meghan’s house. Her parents and three brothers, who were in the house at the time, heard the crash and saw debris fly above a wall which separated their yard from the street. Although none of the family members saw the accident, Meghan’s father and brothers immediately went outside and, after climbing the wall, found Meghan still inside the truck. Meghan’s mother remained in the house until one of her sons informed her that Meghan had been hurt.

Meghan’s parents and brothers filed the underlying lawsuit alleging the negligence of the truck’s driver, Jennifer Astenius, was a proximate and contributing cause of their emotional distress. They maintained she should have provided a seat belt for Meghan and insisted that she use it.

1

The trial court granted Astenius’s motion for summary judgment.