Can a plaintiff who witnessed the tortious injury of another witness recover damages against the tortfeasor?

In Dillon v. Legg (1968) 68 Cal.2d 728, 69 Cal.Rptr. 72, 441 P.2d 912, we were faced with the same general question posed by this case--the circumstances under which a plaintiff who is injured upon witnessing the tortious injury of another may recover damages against the tortfeasor. We acknowledged the need to limit liability and reiterated the well-accepted maxim that one's duty is limited by the risk which his or her negligent conduct foreseeably entails. ( Id. at p. 739, 69 Cal.Rptr. 72, 441 P.2d 912.) We further observed that foreseeability depends upon the circumstances presented by each case and "no immutable rule can establish the extent of that obligation for every circumstance of the future." ( Id. at p. 740, 69 Cal.Rptr. 72, 441 P.2d 912.) Recognizing the need for a principled yet flexible framework for limiting liability, we offered guidelines for determining foreseeability in a given case. These guidelines were based on the plaintiff's

Page 263