Mind Versus Body: Does 'Bodily Injury' Encompass

In Garrison v. Bickford, 377 S.W.3d 659 (Tenn. 2012), the Tennessee Supreme Court was called upon to determine whether emotional distress, standing alone, falls within the ambit of "bodily injury" as that term was used not only in the uninsured motorist policy at issue in the case, but is also used in Tennessee's uninsured motorist statute.

In Garrison, a car driven by Andy Bickford struck and killed Michael Garrison. Michael Garrison's parents, Jerry and Martha Garrison, and younger brother, Daniel Garrison, heard, but did not see, the collision. They did, however, respond to the accident in an attempt to render aid. Following Michael's death, the Garrisons filed claims for wrongful death and negligent infliction of emotional distress against Andy Bickford and the owner of the car, Rita Bickford. According to the complaint, the Garrisons "suffered grief, fright, shock, depression, loss of sleep and other problems" as a result of what they saw.

In addition to filing suit against the Bickfords, the Garrisons served a copy of the complaint upon their own insurance company, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company ("State Farm"), pursuant to the uninsured motorist provision of their policy. The Garrisons' policy with State Farm covered "damages for bodily injury an insured is legally entitled to collect from the owner or driver of an uninsured motor vehicle." The policy defined "bodily injury" as "bodily injury to a person and sickness, disease, or death that results from it."

As the litigation progressed, the Garrisons settled their claims against Andy Bickford. The Garrisons also settled their wrongful death claim with State Farm. However, State Farm refused to pay damages for the Garrisons' emotional distress claims on the basis that emotional harm did not fall within the policy's definition of "bodily injury."

After the trial court found in favor of coverage, State Farm appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals, who reversed the trial court's decision. On appeal to the Tennessee Supreme Court, the Garrisons argued that the policy's definition of "bodily injury" was broad enough to encompass emotional harm and, even if it was not, the uninsured motorist statute, Tenn. Code Ann. § 56-7-1201(a), was broad enough to include emotional injuries, thereby superseding the policy's the more restrictive language. In response, State Farm maintained that the Garrisons' mental injuries did not constitute "bodily injury."

In evaluating the...