## Facts

- A child, Brendan Eskin, was struck by Alice B. Bartee’s car in an elementary school driveway during student pickup.
- The complaint alleged Bartee hit Brendan while maneuvering around an unattended minivan left in the pickup lane.
- Brendan suffered catastrophic injuries, including permanent brain damage.
- Brendan’s mother, Karen Eskin, and brother, Logan Eskin, did not see or hear the impact but arrived shortly after being notified.
- Karen and Logan alleged they saw Brendan lying on the pavement in a pool of blood with no one attending to him and suffered severe emotional injuries.
- Because Bartee allegedly lacked adequate liability insurance, the Eskins served their complaint on USAA Casualty Insurance Company under Tennessee uninsured/underinsured motorist procedures.
- Karen and Logan asserted negligent infliction of emotional distress (NIED) claims based on their observation of the immediate aftermath.

## Issues

1. Whether close family members who do not see or hear an injury-producing accident may assert bystander NIED claims when they arrive shortly afterward and observe the injured relative at the scene.
2. Whether a rule requiring perception of the moment of impact is necessary to limit bystander NIED liability under Tennessee law.

## Decision

- The Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals and held that persons who observe an injured family member shortly after an injury-producing accident may pursue NIED claims.
- The Court rejected a strict requirement that a bystander must see or hear the collision itself.
- The Court held summary judgment dismissing Karen and Logan’s NIED claims was improper, and the claims were permitted to proceed on remand.

## Legal Principles

- Tennessee permits bystander NIED recovery when the plaintiff:
  - is a close family member of the physically injured victim; and
  - is present at the scene and, shortly after the accident, perceives the victim’s injuries (even without seeing or hearing the impact); and
  - alleges a serious or severe emotional injury proven with the type of evidence Tennessee requires for NIED claims.
- Foreseeability is central: severe emotional distress to close family members who encounter the immediate aftermath of a grievous injury may be a foreseeable result of negligence.
- Relationship, temporal proximity, and scene-based perception function as limiting conditions to confine liability to a defined class of plaintiffs and events.

## Conclusion

The court expanded Tennessee bystander NIED doctrine to allow claims by close family members who arrive shortly after an accident and personally observe the victim’s grievous condition, without requiring that the plaintiff witness the moment of impact, while retaining the requirement of serious emotional injury supported by appropriate proof.


Eskin v. Bartee, 262 S.W.3d 727 (Tenn. 2008)