Gilman v Shames

Plaintiff sought to recover damages for bystander emotional distress, allegedly caused by insufficient treatment by the defendant on the decedent, who was the plaintiff’s fiancée. The court held: (1) that the bystander emotional distress claim against the defendant was barred by sovereign immunity as he failed to establish the defendant acted recklessly; and (2) that the plaintiff’s derivative bystander emotional distress claim against the state is not viable in the absence of a predicate wrongful death action brought by the decedent’s estate.