Standard of Care in Delivery of Human Services
Richard Windish successfully argued before the Vermont Supreme Court on behalf of a utility company, whose subcontracted employee suffered a catastrophic loss during installation of high speed cable and were then forced to defend themselves in civil suit brought by a bystander. This bystander was attempting to expand Vermont’s tort law to allow recovery for witnesses to accidents who are outside the “zone of danger.” The initial action was filed in state court, and Richard Windish successfully obtained an entry of summary judgment at the trial court level. The Plaintiff appealed the lower court’s ruling arguing that Vermont’s tort law should be expanded to allow recovery for certain “serious” emotional distress claims even though the alleged victim is not within the zone of danger . Our team filed extensive appellate briefs on this issue and Richard Windish presented legal arguments before a full panel of justices, successfully convincing the Court that the parameters for NIED (Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress) should not be expanded to include bystanders located outside the “zone of danger.” Not only was this an important victory for our client, but this published decision is a huge victory for the entire defense bar in that it prevented a major expansion of tort law for NIED claims in Vermont.
