In a surgically precise decision, the Court of Appeals in Greene expanded the recovery for emotional damages to grandparents who are in the zone of danger and who witnessed the death of a grandchild. On May 17, 2015, Susan Frierson was next to her two-year-old granddaughter when she was struck by debris that fell from the façade of a building. Her granddaughter died the next day. The plaintiff moved for leave to serve an amended complaint to assert a cause of action for negligent infliction of emotional distress on behalf of Susan Frierson under the “zone of danger doctrine.”

The Appellate Division, Second Department denied the motion to amend the complaint to add a cause of action sounding in negligent infliction of emotional distress for the grandmother. The Appellate Court relied on the Court of Appeals case of Bovsun v. Sanperi, 61 N.Y.2d 219 (1984), which limited recovery for negligent infliction of emotional distress to “immediate family” within the zone of danger. As all affected parties in Bovsun were parents and children it was implicit that only these plaintiffs were “immediate family.”

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