State ex rel. Dept. of Transp. v. Hill
| Decision Date | 01 September 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. 27762,27762 |
| Citation | 114 Nev. 810,963 P.2d 480 |
| Parties | The STATE of Nevada, ex rel., DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, Appellant, v. Lewis HILL, Individually; Ora Lee Hill, Individually; and Emanuel Hill, Individually, Respondents. |
| Court | Nevada Supreme Court |
Frankie Sue Del Papa, Attorney General and Roger D. Comstock, Senior Deputy Attorney General, Carson City, for Appellant.
Bradley, Drendel & Jeanney, Reno, for Respondents.
The winter storms of 1992-93 extensively damaged Interstate 80 (I-80) west of Reno. The State Department of Transportation (the State or NDOT) applied a pothole filler to a stretch of the highway near the Gold Ranch Casino in Verdi. On March 13, 1993, that stretch of road had become slick and hazardous when rain mixed with the road filler. That evening, respondents Lewis Hill (Lewis) and Ora Lee Hill (Ora Lee) were driving from San Francisco to Reno with their spouses. Ora Lee is married to Lewis' older brother, Emanuel Hill (Emanuel), and Lewis was married to Earnestine Hill (Earnestine).
As a result of NDOT's admitted negligence, the Hills' vehicle hit a slick spot of road, spun out of control, and flipped over several times. Lewis, Ora Lee, and Emanuel received relatively minor injuries; however, Earnestine, the only occupant who had not been wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the vehicle and sustained fatal injuries. The wrongful death claims of Lewis and of Lewis and Earnestine's son were settled prior to trial. At trial Lewis, Ora Lee, and Emanuel brought claims for personal injuries. Additionally, Lewis and Ora Lee brought claims for negligent infliction of emotional distress (NIED) Emanuel did not claim emotional distress because he had no recollection of the accident.
The jury awarded Lewis a total of $50,244.05 on his claims ($15,244.05 for personal injuries and $35,000.00 for emotional distress). Ora Lee received $11,795.50 for her personal injuries along with $10,000.00 for emotional distress. Emanuel received $33,024.41 for his personal injuries. The State appeals the verdicts pertaining to Lewis and Ora Lee. It asserts that pursuant to statute, Lewis could not collect more than a total of $50,000.00 from the State, and asks this court to reduce his award accordingly. The State further asserts that Ora Lee did not satisfy the prima facie requirements of a claim for NIED, and asks this court to vacate her $10,000.00 award.
This case arose out of a March 13, 1993 single-car rollover, which occurred in the eastbound lanes of I-80 near the Gold Ranch Casino in Verdi. On March 13, 1993, Lewis was driving his 1989 Blazer from San Francisco to Reno for a weekend of recreation with his wife, Earnestine, his brother, Emanuel, and his brother's wife, Ora Lee. All of the occupants, except for Earnestine, were wearing seat belts.
The two couples had each been married approximately thirty-five years. They had all known each other as school children in Alabama; the couples had moved to California and had lived within twenty miles of each other for the thirty years preceding the accident. Emanuel and Ora Lee testified that Lewis and Earnestine were their closest friends, and that the couples had travelled together numerous times throughout the years, often sharing hotel rooms. Ora Lee had known Earnestine for over thirty-five years. The three survivors testified that Earnestine and Ora Lee were exceedingly close, seeing each other at least twice a week and talking on the telephone several times each week. Ora Lee stated that she and Earnestine were more like sisters than sisters-in-law, and that she was closer to Earnestine than to her two blood sisters.
Sometime around noon on March 13, 1993, the two couples left San Francisco on their way to the Sands Hotel/Casino in Reno. Several minutes before 6:00 p.m. they passed the Gold Ranch Casino outside of Verdi, traveling east. Near the Gold Ranch overpass, Lewis' vehicle hit a slick spot on I-80 where NDOT had recently repaired a patch of road. The vehicle went into a spin and rolled over, ultimately coming to rest on its passenger side in the median.
Once the vehicle stopped, Ora Lee unfastened her seat belt and crawled out of the back window. Lewis used a bystander's knife, cut himself out of his seat belt and also crawled out of the vehicle. Emanuel's right hand and forearm were trapped under the vehicle's passenger-side door. Earnestine was not in the vehicle, and Lewis and Ora Lee called out to her. They saw Earnestine lying to the south of the vehicle and attempted Ora Lee then noticed that her sixty-nine year old husband, Emanuel, was still in the car; she called out to him several times, and when he finally nodded his head, Ora Lee exclaimed, "Oh, thank God, he's alive." Shortly thereafter (at approximately 6:25 p.m.), Lewis and Ora Lee were taken by ambulance to Washoe Medical Center. Earnestine was pronounced dead at the scene at 6:42 p.m. Ora Lee and Lewis testified that they knew that Earnestine was seriously injured when they left the accident scene; however, they did not find out about her death until approximately two hours after they had arrived at Washoe Medical Center.
to go to her aid; however, they were restrained by several on-lookers who told Lewis and Ora Lee that they "didn't want to see" what had happened to Earnestine.
At the time Ora Lee learned of Earnestine's death, she was also informed that Emanuel had survived, but had sustained injuries to his right arm and hand--a dislocated, broken wrist and several broken fingers. Ora Lee, Lewis, and Emanuel were released late that night. The next day, a witness to the accident drove Lewis, Ora Lee, and Emanuel to their homes in the San Francisco area. Emanuel testified that he did not remember being driven home and could not recollect what had transpired between the time of the accident and his trip back to the bay area.
Emanuel's injuries required subsequent surgical treatment, and Ora Lee testified at trial that he still did not have full use of his right arm. Notwithstanding, Emanuel was able to return to his job as a school crossing guard the following school year. By the time of trial, Lewis and Ora Lee had made nearly complete physical recoveries; however, testimony indicated that Ora Lee and Lewis were still quite upset by the accident and Earnestine's death. Emanuel testified that Ora Lee cried frequently, had little appetite, and had lost a lot of weight since the accident.
At trial, NDOT conceded liability and the amount of damages to be paid was the only issue. The jury awarded Lewis a total of $50,244.05 on his claims ($15,244.05 for personal injuries and $35,000.00 for emotional distress), Ora Lee received $11,795.50 for her personal injuries along with $10,000.00 for emotional distress, and Emanuel received $33,024.41 for his personal injuries.
At trial, it appeared that Ora Lee sought emotional distress damages for witnessing injury to both Earnestine and Emanuel. 1 The verdict did not apportion Ora Lee's emotional distress damages between the effects of seeing Earnestine and Emanuel injured. The State claims that, as a matter of law, Ora Lee could not recover for emotional distress because she was not "closely related" to Earnestine. It further contends that no damages should have been awarded to Ora Lee based upon emotional distress incurred in seeing Emanuel trapped beneath the vehicle because he was not seriously injured. The State also appeals the jury's award to Lewis to the extent it exceeded $50,000.00 (i.e., $244.05), claiming that the verdict contravened the language and policy of NRS 41.035, which limits recovery from the State to $50,000.00 for each cause of action.
The State preserved the issues pertaining to the viability of Ora Lee's NIED claim.
Ora Lee argues that the State "failed to preserve for review its assertion that Ora Lee was not a sufficiently 'close relative' " to Earnestine, and "its contention that Emanuel's injuries were insufficiently severe to give rise to" a NIED claim. We conclude that Ora Lee's contentions are without merit. The record shows that the State argued at trial that Ora Lee was not "closely related" to Earnestine, and that Emanuel did not incur the "serious injuries" which are required as a condition precedent to a plaintiff being able to recover damages for NIED. Ora Lee was entitled to the NIED award for witnessing the death of Earnestine.
Accordingly, we will review the merits of the subsequent issues on appeal.
At trial, the district court instructed the jury that Earnestine and Ora Lee were closely related as a matter of law. In State v. Eaton, 101 Nev. 705, 718, 710 P.2d 1370, 1379 (1985), where a mother sought damages for emotional distress after witnessing the death of her child, this court first "recognize[d] a cause of action for serious emotional distress which results in physical symptoms caused by apprehending the death or serious injury of a loved one due to the negligence of the defendant." (Emphasis added.) In Eaton, this court expressly adopted the test for foreseeability of emotional harm as expressed in Dillon v. Legg, 68 Cal.2d 728, 69 Cal.Rptr. 72, 441 P.2d 912 (1968).
This court quoted Dillon 's articulation of factors for trial courts to consider in determining the foreseeability of emotional injury to a particular plaintiff:
Eaton, 101 Nev. at 716, 710 P.2d at 1377-78 (quoting Dillon, 69 Cal.Rptr. 72, 441 P.2d at 916) (...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Badillo v. American Brands, Inc.
...also State v. Eaton, 101 Nev. 705, 711, 718, 710 P.2d 1370, 1374, 1379 (1985),overruled on other grounds by State, Dep't of Transp. v. Hill, 114 Nev. 810, 963 P.2d 480 (1998). However, we construe such power narrowly and exercise it cautiously. See Rupert, 90 Nev. at 404, 528 P.2d at In the......
-
Graves v. Estabrook
...seven years and allowing recovery to a wife who met and married her husband a week before the accident. See State, Dep't. of Transp. v. Hill, 114 Nev. 810, 963 P.2d 480, 483 (1998) (characterizing recovery after the wedding, but not beforehand, as "fallacious"). A bright line rule that incl......
-
Droge v. AAAA Two Star Towing, Inc.
...emotional distress causing physical manifestations as a result, the plaintiff may recover for NIED. See State, Dep't of Transp. v. Hill, 114 Nev. 810, 815, 963 P.2d 480, 483 (1998), overruled on other grounds by Grotts v. Zahner , 115 Nev. 339, 341, 989 P.2d 415, 416 (1999). In this case, t......
-
Hislop v. SALT RIVER PROJECT AGR. IMP.
...(Nev.1999). In Grotts, the majority of the Nevada Supreme Court overturned the plurality opinion in Nevada ex rel. Department of Transportation v. Hill, 114 Nev. 810, 963 P.2d 480 (1998), which held that the determination of the closeness of the relationship between the bystander and the pe......