The “Zone of Danger” affects a seaman’s emotional distress legal case

In general tort liability terms, the “Zone of Danger Rule” means that a plaintiff may recover damages for emotional distress if the plaintiff was in an area where he or she could have been physically harmed by a defendant’s negligence. For  maritime purposes—as adopted by the 6^th Circuit Court of Appeals in 1998—the plaintiff must have been inside the area of the vessel where the unsafe condition or negligent act caused possible injury or impact.

For example, two crewmembers are traumatized after witnessing a co-worker being killed from blunt force trauma from a mooring line parting. Plaintiff 1 was standing three feet away from the victim and narrowly missed suffering an injury. Plaintiff 2 was 45 feet away and was a safe distance away.