Bliss v. Allentown Public Library
Decision Date | 19 September 1980 |
Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 80-2523. |
Citation | 497 F. Supp. 487 |
Parties | Richard D. BLISS and Karyn M. Bliss, individually and as next friends and parents of Whitney Bliss, a minor, v. The ALLENTOWN PUBLIC LIBRARY; the School District of the City of Allentown, individually and as Trustee for The Allentown Public Library; and Kathryn Stephanoff. |
Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
Mark H. Scoblionko, Allentown, Pa., for plaintiffs.
Thomas A. Wallitsch, Allentown, Pa., for defendants.
In mid October 1979 plaintiffs' minor child visited the Allentown Public Library (the Library) and attempted to hug or swing from a metal sculpture standing on a wooden pedestal in the sitting area. The statue fell upon the child and crushed bones, nerves and blood vessels in her right arm. Generally, plaintiffs seek to recover for the child's injuries. Additionally, in Count Two the child's mother seeks to recover against the Library, its Trustee and Executive Director for negligent infliction of emotional harm which the mother allegedly experienced when she heard the crash and turned to see her child lying on the floor with the statue positioned across the child's arm.1 Defendants now move to dismiss Count Two for failure to state a cause of action, Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), and argue that under Pennsylvania law plaintiffs' failure to include an allegation that the mother personally witnessed the accident causing the child's injuries deprives them of any right to recover therefor. Plaintiffs contend that direct visual perception of the accident is not a necessary component of this vicarious tort.
Sinn v. Burd, 486 Pa. at 170, 404 A.2d at 685, quoting Dillon v. Legg, 68 Cal.2d 728, 740, 69 Cal.Rptr. 72, 441 P.2d 912 (1968).
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