Engler v. Illinois Farmers Ins. Co.

• Decision Date: 15 December 2005
• Docket Number: No. A04-1445.,A04-1445.
• Citation: 706 N.W.2d 764
• Parties: Geralyn S. ENGLER, Appellant, v. ILLINOIS FARMERS INSURANCE COMPANY, an Illinois corporation, Respondent.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

706 N.W.2d 764

Geralyn S. ENGLER, Appellant, v. ILLINOIS FARMERS INSURANCE COMPANY, an Illinois corporation, Respondent.

No. A04-1445.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

December 15, 2005.

Mark David Streed, Meshbesher, Singer & Spence, Woodbury, for appellant.

Kathleen Margaret Loucks, Gislason & Hunter, LLP, Minnetonka, MN, for respondent.

Michael R. Fargione, Hauer, Fargione, Love, Landy & McELlistrem, P.A., Minne-apolis, for Minnesota Trial Lawyers Assn.

Stephen Paul Laitinen, Larson King, St. Paul, for Minnesota Defense Lawyers Assn.

Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc.

OPINION

BLATZ, Chief Justice.

This case presents the narrow issue of whether a plaintiff who satisfies all of the elements of a claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress under Minnesota law may, as part of the claim, recover damages for distress caused by fearing for her son's safety or witnessing the defendant's negligent injury of her son. The district court concluded that damages for distress caused by witnessing negligent injury to another or fearing for the safety of another are not recoverable and thus limited recovery to those damages for distress arising out of the plaintiff's fear for her own safety. The court of appeals affirmed. We reverse and remand, holding that a plaintiff asserting a claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress may recover damages for distress caused by fearing for the safety of or by witnessing serious bodily injury to one with whom the plaintiff has a close relationship when such serious bodily injury was caused by the defendant's negligent conduct. To recover such damages, however, the plaintiff must still satisfy the three elements of a claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress: (1) the plaintiff was in the zone of danger of physical impact; (2) reasonably feared for her own safety; and (3) has severe emotional distress with physical manifestations.

The facts in this case are undisputed. On April 17, 1997, Geralyn Engler and her two sons were riding in a vehicle driven by Engler's boyfriend, B.R. They were going eastbound on 221st Avenue in Oak Grove Minnesota. When Engler's son, four-and-a-half-year-old J.E., stated that he needed to go to the bathroom, B.R. pulled the car to the side of the rural road, and Engler and J.E. got out of the car. J.E. walked about 30 feet to the tree line alongside the road, while Engler stood next to the car.

Beverly Wehmas, driving westbound on 221st Avenue, approached the location where B.R.'s car was stopped. As she neared B.R.'s car, Wehmas lost control of her vehicle, causing it to veer toward B.R.'s car and the tree line where J.E. was emerging from the woods. Engler saw Wehmas's vehicle careening toward B.R.'s car and believed that Wehmas's vehicle was going to hit her. Engler, however, soon realized that the vehicle was going to strike J.E. instead. Engler screamed and turned away just before Wehmas's vehicle struck J.E. A moment after the impact, Engler turned back and ran to J.E., who had been thrown into the woods, and carried him to B.R.'s car. A passing motorist stopped and telephoned 911, and an ambulance responding to the phone call transported J.E. to the hospital. J.E. sustained serious injuries from the accident, necessitating four days in intensive care and resulting in scarring.

At her deposition, Engler testified that she sought medical treatment a few months after the accident because she "did not feel like [her]self." She was irritable, did not want to get out of bed, cried frequently, and had lost all ambition. A doctor diagnosed Engler with post-traumatic stress syndrome and depression and prescribed antidepressants.

In July 1999, Engler filed suit against Wehmas asserting a claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress ("NIED"). The district court certified to the court of appeals the question of whether Engler could recover damages for distress caused by fearing for her son's safety and witnessing his injury, if she were able to prove the elements of a NIED claim. In answering the certified question, the court of appeals noted the apparent reluctance of Minnesota courts to extend liability in NIED claims and concluded that our court had not recognized a duty of care to protect persons from distress caused by witnessing harm to another. Engler v. Wehmas, 633 N.W.2d 868, 873 (Minn.App.2001) ("Engler I"). Declining to create new law, the court of appeals answered the certified question in the negative. Id. We granted Engler's petition for review, but, before oral argument, the parties settled the suit against Wehmas for $50,000, Wehmas's automobile insurance policy limit.

Claiming that her emotional distress damages exceeded the settlement amount, Engler subsequently brought this suit against Illinois Farmers Insurance Company ("Illinois Farmers"), her automobile insurance company, seeking underinsured motorist coverage. At the district court, Engler brought a motion seeking clarification of the scope of her recoverable damages. Relying on the court of appeals decision in Engler I, the district court concluded that Engler "is not entitled to damages for emotional distress she may have suffered from as a result of either fearing for her son's safety or witnessing her son's injury." The court ruled that Engler's recoverable damages are "limited to the emotional distress she sustained as a result of her fear for her own safety." The parties stipulated that the court's decision on damages terminated Engler's suit because her damages arising out of fear for her own safety did not exceed $50,000 and thus did not entitle her to underinsured motorist coverage. Based on that stipulation, the district court entered judgment against Engler. The court of appeals affirmed in an unpublished opinion, concluding that its decision in Engler I effectively decides this case. Engler v. Illinois Farmers Ins. Co., A04-1445, 2005 WL 704100, at *1 (Minn.App. Mar.29, 2005) (Engler II). We granted Engler's petition for review.

Whether Engler can recover damages for her distress caused by fearing for her son's safety or witnessing her son's injury is a question of law. We review questions of law de novo. Alcozer v. N. Country Food Bank, 635 N.W.2d 695, 707 (Minn.2001). Minnesota courts have long recognized a cause of action for NIED. In 1892, we first recognized a claim for NIED in Purcell v. Saint Paul City Ry. Co., 48 Minn. 134, 50 N.W. 1034 (1892). The plaintiff in Purcell, a pregnant woman riding a cable car, suffered a "fright" when her car narrowly avoided colliding with another car. Id. at 137, 50 N.W. at 1034. As a result of her fright, the plaintiff experienced convulsions and miscarried, leading to a later illness. Id., 50 N.W. at 1034. Our court permitted recovery for the miscarriage and illness, reasoning that the cable car company had breached its duty to "carry the plaintiff safely" and that there was an unbroken causal chain between that breach, the resulting fright, and the illness. Id. at 137-39, 50 N.W. at 1034-35. Purcell has set the standard for NIED claims in Minnesota for over 100 years.

To state a claim for NIED, a plaintiff must prove the four elements of a negligence claim, as well as three additional elements specific to NIED claims. See K.A.C. v. Benson, 527 N.W.2d 553, 559 (Minn.1995); Purcell, 48 Minn. at 137-38, 50 N.W. at 1034. The four elements of negligence are: (1) the existence of a duty of care; (2) a breach of that duty; (3) an injury; and (4) the breach of the duty being the proximate cause of the injury. Funchess v. Cecil Newman Corp., 632 N.W.2d 666, 672 (Minn.2001). In addition to the elements of negligence, a plaintiff claiming NIED must prove that "she: (1) was within the zone of danger of physical impact [created by the defendant's negligence]; (2) reasonably feared for her own safety; and (3) [consequently] suffered severe emotional distress with attendant physical manifestations." K.A.C., 527 N.W.2d at 557.

For purposes of this appeal, the parties agree that the three elements specific to a NIED claim are met. They disagree, however, as to what damages Engler may recover. Engler seeks to recover damages not only for distress arising from her fear for her own safety when she believed Wehmas's car was going to hit her, but also for distress arising from her fear for J.E.'s safety and from witnessing his injury. Engler urges us to expand liability under Minnesota's current NIED test to permit the recovery of these damages. Under Engler's approach, the elements of a NIED claim would remain the same, but, once those elements were met, distress caused by fearing for the safety of another or witnessing injury to another could be recovered. Engler's argument is premised on the belief that a NIED plaintiff is entitled to recover all damages proximately caused by a defendant's negligent conduct.

In opposition, Illinois Farmers argues that damages for distress arising from fearing for another's safety or witnessing injury to another are not recoverable because no duty exists to protect an individual from such distress. Illinois Farmers asserts that a NIED plaintiff may only recover damages for fearing for her own safety.

While our previous NIED cases have primarily involved plaintiffs seeking to recover for distress caused by fearing for their own safety, a few cases have touched on the issue of NIED claims for distress arising from witnessing injury to another. See, e.g., Stadler v. Cross, 295 N.W.2d 552, 554 (Minn.1980); Okrina v. Midwestern Corp., 282 Minn. 400, 404, 165 N.W.2d 259, 262 (1969); Sanderson v. N. Pac. Ry. Co., 88 Minn. 162, 166, 92 N.W. 542, 544 (1902). Unlike the present case, however, these cases did not involve a situation where the plaintiff was in the zone of physical danger and reasonably feared both for her own safety and for the safety of another.

We have never confronted the precise issue before us in this case — whether a person who is in the...