Blue Chipper - Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress
The tort of negligent infliction of emotional distress is really three torts in one. But the father of all three is Camper v. Minor, 915 S.W.2d 4377 (Tenn. 1996).
Camper is the first case in which the Tennessee Supreme Court abandoned the notion that freedom from purely emotional injuries was not worthly of protection. The court held that a person who was directly involved in a incident caused by the negligence of another but suffered only emotional injuries could recover for those injuries if they were "serious or severe" and if they were supported by expert medical or scientific proof. These cases have now come to be known as "stand-alone" claims of negligence infliction of emotional distress.
This case opened the door to protection of one's emotional well-being from the negligence of others. In future weeks I will discuss the cases that followed from and expanded on this decision.
The Tennessee Supreme Court has become a leader in the imposition of responsibility to prevent harm to another's well-being. The Court is to be congradulated from freeing itself - and Tennesseeans - from the bonds of centuries of the law to the contrary.