Nelson v. Nuccio

Decision Date26 February 1971
Docket NumberGen. No. 53885
Citation131 Ill.App.2d 261,268 N.E.2d 543
PartiesPriscilla V. NELSON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Richard L. NUCCIO and City of Chicago, a Municipal Corporation, Defendants-Appellees.
CourtUnited States Appellate Court of Illinois

Elmer Gertz, Ralla Klepak, Chicago, for plaintiff-appellant; Wayne B. Giampietro, Chicago, of counsel.

Raymond F. Simon, Corp. Counsel, Chicago, for defendants-appellees; Marvin E. Aspen, Gayle F. Haglund, Asst. Corp. Counsel, of counsel.

EBERSPACHER, Presiding Justice.

Priscilla Nelson brought this action in the circuit court of Cook County against Richard L. Nuccio, a police officer of the City of Chicago, and the City of Chicago for intentionally causing her severe emotional disturbance. On motion of the defendants, the trial court dismissed the amended complaint and plaintiff now appeals from that order of dismissal.

Count I of the complaint alleges that plaintiff is the mother of Ronald Nelson; that Nuccio, without cause, had threatened to injure, maim, and kill her son; that Nuccio knew she had been informed of these threats, intended that she be so informed and intended by making these threats to cause her great mental anguish; that she informed the police department that Nuccio was threatening and harassing her son and requested that he be restrained from such conduct; that the city failed to restrain Nuccio from making his threats and harassing her son; that on June 4, 1968, Nuccio intending to cause her severe emotional disturbance and, without cause, shot her son in the back and killed him; and that she did suffer severe emotional disturbance because of the threat to kill her son and the fulfillment of the threat.

Count II of the complaint alleges that police officers of the city knew that her son had been shot and killed or seriously wounded; that these officers intending to cause her great mental anguish failed to inform her that her son had been injured; that she was later informed that he had been shot; that she immediately called the police station, inquired about her son and was told by an officer that her son had been shot, that his condition was not serious and that he could be visited at American Hospital; that the officer giving this information knew her son had been killed or seriously injured and intended to cause her severe emotional disturbance by giving her false information; that she immediately went to American Hospital and learned her son was dead; and that she suffered severe emotional disturbance when she learned he was dead after being informed that he was not seriously injured.

In Knierim v. Izzo, 22 Ill.2d 73, 174 N.E.2d 157, the court held that '* * * the allegations that defendant intentionally caused severe emotional disturbance and nervous exhaustion by his threat to murder plaintiff's husband and the fulfillment of the threat states a cause of action.' (22 Ill.2d 73, 87, 174 N.E.2d 157, 165) Defendants argue that Knierim does not control this case because plaintiff was not present when her son was shot and because the threat to kill her son was not made directly to her by Nuccio.

The presence or absence of Mrs. Knierim at the time her husband was murdered was not mentioned by the court in Knierim and consequently does not seem to be important under the facts of that case. The important elements of the complaint upheld in Knierim were: (1) Izzo's threat to her that he would kill her husband and the fulfillment of...

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8 cases
  • Attallah v. US
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico
    • February 4, 1991
    ...410 A.2d 1270 (App.1979); Roth v. First National State Bank of N.J., 169 N.J.Super. 280, 404 A.2d 1182 (App.1979); Nelson v. Nuccio, 131 Ill.App.2d 261, 268 N.E.2d 543 (1971); and Adami v. Dobie, 440 S.W.2d 330 These cases establish that intentional and criminal acts committed for purely pe......
  • Wright v. City of Danville
    • United States
    • Illinois Supreme Court
    • December 19, 1996
    ...of Agency § 231, Comment a (1958); see also Webb, 137 Ill.App.3d at 1006, 92 Ill.Dec. 598, 485 N.E.2d 409; Nelson v. Nuccio, 131 Ill.App.2d 261, 263, 268 N.E.2d 543 (1971). Further, if a deviation is exceedingly marked and unusual, the employee may be found to be outside the scope of employ......
  • Rosenberg v. Packerland Packing Co., Inc.
    • United States
    • United States Appellate Court of Illinois
    • December 13, 1977
    ...of severe emotional distress, since such conduct would be outside the scope of the driver's employment. (Nelson v. Nuccio (1st Dist. 1971), 131 Ill.App.2d 261, 264, 268 N.E.2d 543.) Neither would defendant Packerland be liable under respondeat superior for its driver's assault, as it is wit......
  • Sherman v. Field Clinic
    • United States
    • United States Appellate Court of Illinois
    • June 19, 1979
    ...citing Rosenberg v. Packerland Packing Co. (1977), 55 Ill.App.3d 959, 13 Ill.Dec. 208, 370 N.E.2d 1235, and Nelson v. Nuccio (1971), 131 Ill.App.2d 261, 268 N.E.2d 543. While in Rosenberg the court did state that a truck driver's intentional infliction of distress was outside the scope of h......
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