Utah Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress

Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress relates to recovering for emotional distress suffered while witnessing injury to a third party. In Straub v. Fisher and Paykel Health Care, 990 P.2d 384 (Utah 1999), the case presented the question of whether a plaintiff can allege a claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress based on her witnessing an injury to a third person. Here the plaintiff operated the instrumentality that caused injury to the third person but was not personally threatened with physical injury.the Utah Supreme Court held that the plaintiff’s claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress failed “as a matter of law because she was never personally at risk of physical injury when she witnessed the death of her patient.” Id. at 387.