Werling v. Sandy

1985 Ohio Supreme Court case

Werling v. Sandy

Court	Supreme Court of Ohio
Full case name	Werling, ADMX., Appellant, v. Sandy et al., Appellees.
Decided	April 24, 1985 (1985-04-24)
Citation	17 Ohio St. 3d 45
Court membership
Judges sitting	Frank D. Celebrezze, Robert E. Holmes, Clifford F. Brown, A. William Sweeney, Andrew Douglas, J. Craig Wright, Donald R. Ford^[a]
Case opinions
Decision by	Holmes
Concurrence	Celebrezze, Sweeney, Ford, C. Brown, Wright, Douglas

Werling v. Sandy, 17 Ohio St. 3d 45 (1985), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of Ohio that first recognized the cause of action for the wrongful death of a fetus in that state.^[1]

Decision

The parents of a stillborn fetus sued for wrongful death, and the trial court dismissed the complaint on the grounds that there was no such cause of action. The Supreme Court of Ohio held that a cause of action would lie. The court recognized several statutory indicators that a stillborn fetus might properly be considered a decedent, including clauses in the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act and the rule against perpetuities. The court also recognized the arbitrariness of allowing recovery for wrongful death caused by negligently inflicted prenatal injuries in the case where the death occurs shortly after a live birth and disallowing recovering when the death occurred shortly before birth. The court held that the wrongful death action would only lie for a viable fetus that was carried full term.^[2]

Notes

^ Appellate judge of Eleventh District; sitting in place of Ralph S. Locher

References

^ Henderson, J.A., et al. The Torts Process, Seventh Edition. Aspen Publishers, New York, NY: 2007, p. 332
^ Henderson, et al., p. 332

United States tort law

Intentional Torts

Assault & Battery	Garratt v. Dailey Katko v. Briney Vosburg v. Putney Picard v. Barry Pontiac-Buick, Inc. Sheridan v. United States
Abuse of process	Hartman v. Moore
intentional infliction of emotional distress	Snyder v. Phelps Hustler Magazine v. Falwell
Trespass to land & Trespass to chattels	Rowland v. Christian CompuServe Inc. v. Cyber Promotions, Inc. Dougherty v. Stepp Intel Corp. v. Hamidi United Zinc & Chemical Co. v. Britt Sioux City & Pacific Railroad Co. v. Stout
Conversion	Haslem v. Lockwood Popov v. Hayashi
Privacy, Publicity rights	Taus v. Loftus Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co.
Tortious interference	Redbox Automated Retail LLC v. Universal City Studios LLLP
Defamation	See United States defamation law

Negligence

Duty of care	Brown v. Kendall Trimarco v. Klein Jablonski by Pahls v. United States Kerans v. Porter Paint Co. Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co. Mexicali Rose v. Superior Court
Medical malpractice	Landeros v. Flood Union Pacific Railway Co. v. Botsford Mohr v. Williams Schloendorff v. Society of New York Hospital Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California Scott v. Bradford
Wrongful death, Loss of consortium	Cahoon v. Cummings Hitaffer v. Argonne Co. Werling v. Sandy
Common employment	Albro v. Agawam Canal Co. Farwell v. Boston & Worcester Railroad Corp. Vance v. Ball State University
Public Authority, Fireman's rule, Negligence per se	Boub v. Township of Wayne Briscoe v. LaHue United States v. GlaxoSmithKline Seong Sil Kim v. New York City Transit Authority United States v. Johnson (1987) Martin v. Herzog Tedla v. Ellman Yount v. City of Sacramento Pearson v. Callahan Saucier v. Katz
Causation	Summers v. Tice Ybarra v. Spangard Ultramares Corp. v. Touche Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc.
Negligent infliction of emotional distress	Krouse v. Graham Dillon v. Legg Archibald v. Braverman Thing v. La Chusa Miller v. National Broadcasting Co. Molien v. Kaiser Foundation Hospitals

Nuisance

Public	Spur Industries, Inc. v. Del E. Webb Development Co.
Private	Boomer v. Atlantic Cement Co.

Strict liability

Ultrahazardous activity	Alwin v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad Co. v. American Cyanamid Co.
Product liability	Thomas v. Winchester Sindell v. Abbott Laboratories Friend v. Childs Dining Hall Co. Loop v. Litchfield Losee v. Clute Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. Thompson Geier v. American Honda Motor Co. Chysky v. Drake Bros. Co. Devlin v. Smith

Damages

Joint and several liability	Walt Disney World Co. v. Wood
Comparative negligence	Li v. Yellow Cab Co. Knight v. Jewett Hoffman v. Jones American Motorcycle Ass'n v. Superior Court
Punitive damages	BMW of North America, Inc. v. Gore Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants Pearson v. Chung Honda Motor Co. v. Oberg State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Campbell