www.jeremydebeer.ca

Liability for "nervous shock" or "psychiatric damage" is a sort of special topic in tort law. Basically, nervous shock is emotional harm, as opposed to (or in addition to) physical or economic injury. Sometimes this is treated as a duty issue, sometimes as a matter of remoteness and sometimes as a twist on damages. It incorporates ideas about foreseeability, consideration of the thin skull principle and other difficult questions we have or will covered elsewhere. So rather than pigeonholing it into one or another of the main elements of a negligence action, we'll just devote an entire separate class to cover the issue. Before class, please read pages 310-11 of LKF and also carefully review the Ontario Court of Appeal's decision in Mustapha. Too bad the SCC won't hear the case until next March, or we could've had a great class trip!