We live in a culture that attempts a legal response to most problems, probably too many problems, so it should not prove surprising that courts have been asked to fashion a remedy for emotional distress as well. This chapter considers the approaches courts have taken to one of tort law's most intractable problems, claims for indirect infliction of emotional distress. It then contrasts such claims with another type of claim for emotional injuries, loss of consortium.
Claims for indirect infliction of emotional distress (frequently referred to as “bystander” claims) are based on emotional trauma suffered by one person who witnesses or learns of an injury to another. Here are some examples:
A worker at a construction site sees a coworker crushed under a dump truck.