New CA Tort Case

Can a plaintiff recover emotional distress damages under Dillon v. Legg if, at the
time of the car crash, she was not aware of the causal connection between
her daughter's injuries and the defendants' alleged negligence? 

Last month, the California Supreme Court addressed this issue. Below is my one-paragraph summary of this new decision:

Downey v. City of Riverside (2024) _ Cal.5th _ , 2024 WL 3491142: The California Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeal’s order affirming the trial court’s orders sustaining defendants’ demurrer, without leave to amend, to plaintiff’s complaint alleging negligence under Dillon v. Legg (1968) 68 Cal.2d 728 (Dillon). Plaintiff, the mother of daughter Jayde Downey, was giving driving directions to her daughter over a cell phone and heard the event when her daughter was severely injured in a car crash. The trial court, and later the Court of Appeal, concluded that plaintiff could...