People Express Airlines, Inc. v. Consolidated Rail Corp.

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

HANDLER, J.

This appeal presents a question that has not previously been directly considered: whether a defendant’s negligent conduct that interferes with a plaintiff’s business resulting in purely economic losses, unaccompanied by property damage or personal injury, is compensable in tort. The appeal poses this issue in the context of the defendants’ alleged negligence that caused a dangerous chemical to escape from a railway tank car, resulting in the evacuation from the surrounding area of persons whose safety and health were threatened. The…