## Facts

- Lucille Lewis, a resident of a Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) building, used an elevator maintained by Westinghouse Elevator Co., a division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation.
- Lewis rode from the first floor to the sixteenth floor.
- As she attempted to exit, the elevator stalled at the sixteenth floor and the doors remained closed for about 40 minutes.
- Lewis alleged she was in danger of “suffocation and serious physical harm” and feared for her safety while trapped.
- She alleged resulting physical effects, including unstable angina and aggravation of preexisting coronary arteriosclerotic heart disease and hypertension.
- Lewis filed an amended complaint against Westinghouse and CHA; one count sought damages for negligent infliction of emotional distress (NIED).

## Issues

1. Whether allegations of being trapped in a stalled elevator for about 40 minutes, fear of suffocation and serious harm, and resulting cardiac-related symptoms sufficiently stated an NIED claim under Illinois’ zone-of-physical-danger standard.

## Decision

- The appellate court affirmed dismissal of the NIED count for failure to state a cause of action.
- The court held Lewis did not plead facts showing she was within a zone of physical danger presenting a high risk of physical impact, as required for NIED.
- Allegations of “suffocation” and “serious physical harm” were treated as conclusory absent specific facts showing imminent, objective peril.
- Even assuming the alleged cardiac symptoms could satisfy the “physical injury or illness” prong, failure to satisfy the zone-of-danger prong was independently fatal.

## Legal Principles

- Illinois NIED claims are governed by the zone-of-physical-danger test: (1) the plaintiff must have been in proximity to a danger creating a high risk of physical impact and a reasonable fear for personal safety, and (2) must suffer physical injury or illness resulting from the distress.
- The zone-of-danger standard does not require contemporaneous physical impact, but it does require well-pleaded facts showing serious, immediate, and objective risk to the plaintiff.
- Conclusory allegations of danger or fear, without factual detail showing a high risk of physical impact, are insufficient to state an NIED claim.

## Conclusion

The court held that confinement in a stalled elevator, without specific facts showing an immediate high risk of physical impact, does not place a plaintiff in the zone of physical danger required for negligent infliction of emotional distress in Illinois, and it affirmed dismissal of the NIED count.


Lewis v. Westinghouse Elec. Corp., 487 N.E.2d 1071 (Ill. App. Ct. 1985)