## Facts

- K.G., born in 2004, is blind, nonverbal, and has severe mobility and communication limitations due to congenital disorders including cerebral palsy and quadriplegia.
- K.G. attended New Augusta North Public Academy for instructional and special-needs services, including diaper changes performed by instructional assistant Morgan Smith.
- Between approximately October 2015 and January 2016, Smith sexually abused K.G. during diaper changes; Smith later pleaded guilty to felony child molesting.
- After the abuse, K.G. exhibited behavioral changes such as sleeplessness, night terrors, and aggression toward caregivers.
- K.G.’s mother, Melody Ruch, alleged severe emotional distress after learning of the abuse in April 2018, when Smith confessed.
- Ruch sued Smith and the school entities, asserting (among other claims) negligent infliction of emotional distress (NIED) and an individual claim for economic damages.
- The trial court granted summary judgment to the school on Ruch’s NIED claim and dismissed her individual economic-damages claim.
- The Indiana Supreme Court granted transfer and reviewed the trial court’s rulings.

## Issues

1. Whether Indiana should expand its common-law NIED doctrine to allow a parent/guardian to recover for severe emotional distress upon later learning with irrefutable certainty that a caretaker sexually abused the parent’s child, despite not meeting the impact, modified-impact, or bystander rules.
2. Whether the trial court erred in dismissing the parent’s individual claim for economic damages allegedly resulting from the abuse and its aftermath.

## Decision

- The court narrowly expanded Indiana common law to recognize an NIED claim where a caretaker assumes responsibility for a child, owes a duty to the parent/guardian, the parent later discovers with irrefutable certainty that the caretaker sexually abused the child, and the discovery severely harms the parent’s emotional health.
- Under that standard, the court held summary judgment for the school on Ruch’s NIED claim was improper.
- The court held the trial court improperly dismissed Ruch’s individual economic-damages claim.
- The court reversed and remanded for further proceedings.
- A dissent argued the court should not extend NIED beyond established categories.

## Legal Principles

- Indiana NIED recovery traditionally is limited to: (1) the impact rule; (2) the modified-impact rule; and (3) the bystander rule.
- A parent/guardian may pursue NIED against a caretaker when:
  - the caretaker assumed responsibility for the child and owed a duty of care to the parent/guardian, and
  - the parent/guardian later learns with irrefutable certainty that the caretaker sexually abused the child, and
  - the discovery severely impacts the parent/guardian’s emotional health.
- In this limited caretaker–child sexual-abuse context, lack of proximity to or contemporaneous observation of the abuse does not categorically bar the parent’s NIED claim.
- A parent’s individual claim for economic damages associated with the child’s abuse and resulting care needs may proceed when improperly dismissed at the pleading stage.

## Conclusion

The Indiana Supreme Court reversed summary judgment on a mother’s emotional-distress claim and reinstated her economic-damages claim, creating a narrowly defined NIED pathway for parents who later learn with irrefutable certainty that a caretaker sexually abused their child and suffer severe emotional harm.


K.G. ex rel. Ruch v. Smith, 178 N.E.3d 300 (Ind. 2021)