135 N.C. 458 | N.C. | 1904
Lead Opinion
after stating tbe facts. Although there is no exception to tbe issues, and apparently no misunderstanding as to their meaning, we think it better to call attention to tbe inaccuracy of tbe second issue. It should read as follows: “What damage, if any, has tbe plaintiff thereby sustained on account of mental anguish ?” Or, “What damage, if any, has tbe plaintiff sustained on • account of mental anguish caused by such negligence?” Tbe exact form of tbe issue is immaterial, but it should directly present tbe casual relation between tbe negligence of tbe defendant and tbe damages sustained therefrom by tbe plaintiff. This is especially important in suits involving mental anguish. Tbe defendant "did not contribute to tbe death of tbe child in any way,
As both parties seemed to be content with the issues, Avhich may not have caused any confusion in the minds of the jury, we do not feel authorized to set aside the verdict. However, as there might be cases in which such issues would be fatally defective, we deem it better to again call the attention of the profession to the importance of having issues which, either - in themselves or in connection with admissions of record, are sufficient to sustain the judgment. Tucker v. Satterthwaite, 120 N. C., 118.
We do not think that the plaintiff can recover his expenses coming to Greensboro, as they do not appear to have been caused in any way by the defendant’s negligence. If the defendant had been guilty of no negligence whatever, and the telegram had been promptly delivered, the plaintiff would
The defendant contends that, as a matter of law, the plaintiff cannot recover on account of simple inability to attend the funeral of a second cousin, and that if he can so recover he can do so only upon the absolute prerequisite that the defendant knew or was informed of the peculiar relations existing between him and the child. • Both of these questions have been decided by this Court adversely to the defendant. In Cashion v. Telegraph Co., 123 N. C., 267, it was held that, while the relation of brother-in-law is not sufficiently near to raise any presumption of mental anguish, the actual existence of said anguish, if found as a fact by the jury, would entitle the plaintiff to recover substantial damages. In that case the Court says: “It is true that there are certain facts which, when proved, presume mental anguish. The tender ties of love and sympathy existing between husband and wife or parent and child are the common knowledge of the human race, as they are the holiest instincts of the human heart. * * * But beyond the marriage state, this presumption extends only to near relatives of kindred blood, as acute affection does not necessarily result from distant kinship or mere affinity. A brother’s love is sufficiently universal to raise the presumption, but not so with a brother-in-law, who is often an indifferent stranger and sometimes an unwelcome intruder in the family circle. It is true that with him such affection may exist, and in the present case doubtless does exist, but it must be shown.”
In Bennett v. Telegraph Co., 128 N. C., 103, the Court, speaking through Clark, J., says: “The objection that the relationship of the sendee (father-in-law) does not entitle the plaintiff to recover for mental anguish by reason of fail-
This line of decisions has been so recently affirmed and followed in the well-considered opinion in Bright v. Telegraph Co., 132 N. C., 317, that further discussion seems useless. The Court, speaking through Walker, J., says, on pages 322, 323: “The law does not regard so much the technical relation between the parties or their legal status in respect to each other as it does the actual relation that exists and the state of feeling between them. • It does not raise any presumption of mental anguish when there is no relation by blood, but if mental suffering does actually result from the failure to deliver a message where there is only affinity between the parties, it may be shown and damages recovered. A woman suddenly bereft of her husband, and who has no father or other relative or friends to whom she can turn in her distress, except the uncle of her husband, might well call upon him for consolation and assistance, especially when, as is abundantly shown in the evidence in this case, he was her husband’s nearest living relative, and had reared and educated him and was ‘devoted to her husband and herself,’ and stood toward them in the place of a parent. She had every right to expect that as soon as the sad news of the death of her husband had reached him, he would come at once to her and give her that comfort, consolation and assistance which she sorely needed. If he was not her father, he entertained for her all of the tender regard and affection of a parent, and was as much interested in her welfare as if he had been her father, and she could therefore reasonably expect that he would do, under the circumstances, precisely what her father would have done if he had been living. It is needless to discuss the question further, as this Court has settled it against, the defendant. ‘We do not mean to say,’
It will be seen that the cases all proceed upon the principle that the nearness of the relationship is material only where the presumption is relied on; but that mental anguish may exist as a fact where there is no such presumption. In such cases it is a matter of proof, and may be inferred from all the surrounding circumstances, as well as the personal testimony of the plaintiff. The plaintiff is of course an interested witness, and his testimony, like that of all such witnesses, should be scrutinized with care; but if after such scrutiny the jury believe he has testified truthfully, they should give to his testimony the same weight they would to that of any other credible witness. There is no reason why a party should not become a witness in his own behalf, especially in matters peculiarly within his personal knowledge, and the law does not discredit him for doing so, but simply provides for that just scrutiny by which alone the motives of human conduct can be interpreted.
The second exception is to the refusal of the Court to charge that the plaintiff could not recover in the absence of any evidence that the defendant knew or was informed of the peculiar and intimate relations existing between the plaintiff and the deceased child. Such instructions were properly refused, as has been repeatedly held by this Court. Sherrill
In Sherrill’s case'the telegram was, “Tell Henry to come home, Lou is bad sick.” In Lyne’s case it was “Gregory met accident; not live more twenty-four or twenty-six hours.” In Cashion’s case it was “To J. W. Mock. Come at once. Mr. Cashion is dead; killed at work. John Payne.” In Laudie’s case it was “Eranlc dead. Meet depot at Wades-boro 8 A. M. Bury him in Chesterfield; grave three feet.” In Hendricks’ case it was “Presh died this morning,” and “Come quick, will bury Presh to-morrow.” In Meadows’ case it was “Will Phillips’ wife at point of death.” In Bright’s case it was “Mr. Bright is dead, will bury at Liberty Sunday morning.” In that case, 132 N. C., at page 324, Walker, J., speaking for the Court, says: “It is not a valid objection to the plaintiff’s right of recovery that the message did not sufficiently disclose its purpose, or show that the plaintiff desired Cooper to come to Wadesboro. It has been repeatedly decided by this Court, in cases where the relationship of the parties was not disclosed, and the special purport of the message could not possibly have been understood, that it was not necessary for the company to know the relation between the sender and sendee from the terms of the message, or to know anything more than that the message is one of importance, and that this should always be inferred from the fact that it relates to the illness or death of a person. When this is the case, it is sufficient to put the company on notice
The judgment of the Court below is
Affirmed.
Concurrence Opinion
concurring. Mental suffering is as real as physical. Every one who has suffered either is a competent witness that there is no fiction about it. There is the same practical difficulty in measuring compensation for physical anguish as for mental, but the same difficulty arises also in nearly all cases of estimating unliquidated damages. Juries, under the instruction of learned and just judges, who will restrain excessive verdicts, must, upon consideration of all the evidence, award fair compensation. All courts allow compensation for mental suffering, not only when accompanied by physical pain, but in many cases when there is no physical suffering, as in actions for seduction, slander, libel, breach of promise of marriage, and perhaps some others. The courts in the several independent State jurisdiction's in this country have not been agreed as to the allowance of damages for mental suffering when it has been caused by the wrongful or negligent conduct of a telegraph company in the delay or non-delivery of what is known as death messages, but the uniform and unbroken decisions of this Court place it among those that allow recovery in such cases. The legal rule laid down is clear and just: “In all cases, damages for mental anguish are purely compensatory and should never exceed a just and reasonable compensation for the injury suffered.” And we have just repeated in Bowers v. Telegraph Co., 135 N. C., at this term, that mere disappointment will not amount to mental anguish.
When the relationship of the parties is close, the law presumes some mental anguish from the fact that the telegram was sent, the amount of the compensation for the mental suf
Since it is established as a fact in tbis case that there was mental suffering caused by tbe defendant’s failure to deliver tbe telegram, and there was evidence to prove it, tbis case does “not fall beyond the limits of the law,” which holds the defendant liable to render just compensation for tbe injury it has inflicted.
Concurrence Opinion
concurring. The doctrine of mental anguish which has been recognized and applied in this Court for many years, either has no scientific or rational basis upon which to rest so as to justify a recovery by father, brother, husband, or any other person bound to another by a close tie of blood or marriage, of damages from a telegraph company
The doctrine, as stated in the former decisions of this Court, could not have been restricted to close relationship, but in its very nature extended to those which are remote, as it was founded upon a breach of public duty by the telegraph company, which duty required that messages should be transmitted and delivered with reasonable care and dispatch and with due regard for the rights of the patrons of the company. The public is vitally interested in the performance of this duty and, whenever there is a breach of it, the right to recover damages flowing from the breach depends upon the ability of the party who alleges that he has been injured by the failure of duty to prove his actual- damages, which include damages for mental anguish, and may consist solely of such damages. Cashion v. Telegraph Co., 123 N. C., 267. It is a question of proof, and not one of close relationship, which determines the right to recover damages for the injury.
If the principle has no proper place within the borders of
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting. The doctrine by which the sendee of a message was held to be entitled to recover for failure to deliver promptly, in addition to nominal damages, compensation for mental anguish, was first established by this Court in Young v. Telegraph Co., 107 N. C., 371, 9 L. R. A., 669, 22 Am. St. Rep., 883. The message in that case announced the extreme illness of the sendee’s wife and urged him to “come in haste.” As the facts appeared in the record they appealed strongly to the feelings of the Court — the negligence was gross. The doctrine then established has been fruitful of much litigation. Many of the cases have shown gross negligence, and some of them most aggravating and intense suffering caused thereby. Whatever may be my opinion of the scientific basis of the doctrine, I have no disposition to regard it as an open question in this Court. It is settled here. No one who has given the question careful thought can fail to be impressed with the difficulty of giving it a satisfactory practical operation. To estimate and separate in dollars the quantum of suffering, mental and otherwise, a person experiences by reason of learning of the death and of being unable to attend the funeral of a deceased relative must give to a conscientious juror much difficulty. 1 cannot but think that if the Judge who, with great lucidity, lays down the principle, were called upon to apply it, the doctrine would not find so much favor. However this may be, the best answer to the objection that it is difficult to do is found in the fact that it is done. The only question presented by the appeal in this case is whether a doctrine originating in the case of an absent husband summoned to the
I cannot concur in the conclusion reached by the Court in this case. It may be that the Court is committed to an unlimited field of litigation in these cases. I do not care to review the cases. I simply wish to say that in my opinion if any limit is ever fixed, the plaintiff’s case will fall far beyond the outside boundary. It is difficult to discuss these cases. Men view such matters so differently that they may not easily make themselves understood. If it is desired to compel the defendant company to discharge its duty to the public with all reasonable promptness and dispatch, there can be no doubt that the Legislature has the power by appropriate legislation to do so.
I do not think that the plaintiff in any respect of the testimony is entitled to recover for mental anguish.