Louisiana Civil Code article 2315.6 is entitled “Liability for Damages Caused by Injury to Another.” The article allows for an emotional damages claim for witnessing injury to a loved one. For instance, if a mother and daughter are shopping at a store, and a store employee negligently runs into and hurts the daughter in front of the mother, the mother can make a claim against the store employee for emotional injuries as a result of witnessing the injury.
These claims do not typically result in large money awards but they do help compensate the emotional pain of witnessing injury to a loved one. Usually the claim of the person physically injured is much larger than the claim of the person that witnessed the injury.
Article 2315.6 allows for immediate family members (for example, spouses, mothers, fathers, siblings) to make claims for emotional damages for witnessing injuries to their family members and also grandparents and grandchildren.
The emotional damages suffered must be reasonable and should be diagnosed by a mental health professional. The article states that the “mental anguish or emotional distress must be severe, debilitating, and foreseeable.”
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