Pearsall v. Emhart Industries, Inc.

Pearsall (plaintiff) came home to find her house on fire and her husband and two children dead inside, viewing their bodies outside the house and later at the hospital as they were carried from the ambulance; she sued Emhart Industries (defendant), maker of the home's heat and smoke alarms, in products liability, seeking damages including emotional distress. The jury awarded her $400,000 for emotional distress, and Emhart appealed, arguing the emotional-distress claim should never have gone to the jury.