California Spine Injury Lawyers

EXTENDED CLAIMANTS

As with claims for loss of consortium, counsel should carefully research applicable law to determine whether, for example, children may have a valid cause of action where a parent sustains a spinal cord injury, or conversely, whether the parent may maintain a cause of action where the child sustains the injury. Bystander theories of negligent infliction of emotional distress should be pursued whenever the facts of a given case provides such a remedy. In the ongoing quest to limit the scope of who may recover, courts in some jurisdictions have imposed stringent guidelines as to who can recover for negligent infliction of emotional distress. For example, the Supreme Court of California has established a three-part test, which must be satisfied in order a plaintiff state a cause of action for "bystander" negligent infliction of emotional distress: