Roes v. FHP, Inc.
Hawaii Supreme Court
985 P.2d 661 (1999)
- Written by Angela Patrick, JD
Facts
An airline baggage handler (plaintiff) realized that he had blood on his hands after moving a bag. The blood came from a specimen in the bag. Two other baggage handlers (plaintiffs) helped the first handler to clean up the mess from the specimen. All three handlers had open wounds on their hands and came into contact with the blood. The handlers then learned that the blood specimen was positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and was being transported by FHP, Inc. (defendant) for research purposes. The three handlers sued FHP, the freight forwarder that arranged the shipment, the courier who packed the shipment, and the airline that flew the shipment (defendants) in federal court for negligence and either negligent or intentional infliction of emotional distress. The federal court certified a question to the Hawaii Supreme Court, asking whether Hawaii recognized a cause of action for negligent infliction of emotional distress following an exposure to HIV-infected blood and, if so, whether a physical injury was a necessary element of this type of negligent-infliction-of-emotional-distress claim.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Levinson, J.)
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