Dziokonski v. Babineau

These appeals require us to reexamine the question whether a person who negligently causes emotional distress which leads to physical injuries may be liable for those injuries even if the injured person neither was threatened with nor sustained any direct physical injury. At the heart of the plaintiffs’ claims is the argument that this court should abandon the so called “impact” rule of Spade v. Lynn & Boston R.R., 168 Mass. 285, 290 (1897), which denies recovery for physical injuries arising solely from negligently caused mental distress. We agree that the rule of the Spade case should be…