Rodriguez v. Kirchhoefel

Opinion

MOSK, J. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff and appellant Martha Rodriguez (plaintiff) sued defendant and respondent Troy Kirchhoefel (defendant) for negligent infliction of emotional [430]distress (NIED), alleging that plaintiff suffered emotional distress when she observed a car, negligently driven by defendant, strike and kill Catalina Macias (Macias). Defendant successfully moved for summary judgment on the ground that plaintiff was not related to Macias, and therefore, under Thing v. La Chusa (1989) 48 Cal.3d 644 [257 Cal.Rptr. 865, 771 P.2d 814] (Thing) and Elden v. Sheldon (1988) 46 Cal.3d 267 [250 Cal.Rptr. 254, 758 P.2d 582] (Elden), plaintiff cannot assert an NIED claim against defendant. Plaintiff appeals from the summary judgment, contending the trial court erred by granting summary judgment because there was evidence that plaintiff and Macias, although not related by blood, had a relationship similar to that of sisters. Because the Supreme Court in Thing and Elden made clear that the NIED cause of action is not available to plaintiffs who observe injuries negligently inflicted on de facto relatives, as opposed to blood or marital relatives, we affirm the judgment.

BACKGROUND

On May 18, 2001, 15-year-old Macias was crossing a street in the City of Santa Clarita when she was struck by a car driven by defendant. Macias, who was in the pedestrian crosswalk at the time she was hit, was killed by the impact. Plaintiff was a few feet away from Macias when the car struck Macias. She saw Macias walk into the crosswalk and defendant’s car enter the intersection against the signal and strike Macias. Plaintiff, who was 14 years old at the time of the accident, alleged that she suffered severe emotional distress as a result of seeing defendant’s car hit Macias, with whom plaintiff shared a close relationship—similar to that of sisters.

Defendant moved for summary judgment on the ground that plaintiff cannot recover for NIED because she was not related to Macias. In support of his motion, defendant submitted plaintiff’s deposition testimony in which plaintiff admitted she was not related to Macias. Although plaintiff did not dispute that she was not related by blood to Macias, she submitted evidence that (1) plaintiff and her mother had lived with Macias and her family “on and off” for “several extended periods of time”; (2) at the time of Macias’s death, plaintiff had been living with her for two to three years; (3) plaintiff and Macias shared a bedroom when they lived together; and (4) plaintiff and Macias had known each other since plaintiff was six years old and were very close, regularly referring to themselves as sisters. The trial court granted