Fisherman Stressed by Near Miss Can Sue

Three years ago, the massive freight ship Eva Danielsen narrowly missed fisherman Brian Stacy in the waters off of Point Reyes during a foggy day.

It continued on only to strike the boat of Paul Wade, who went overboard and drowned.

Stacy wanted to take the owners of the Danielsen to court to sue for the emotional distress that the near miss and nearby fatality caused.

Stacy contends that he missed work and needed therapy in the wake of the incident.

However, his case was thrown out by the original judge because Stacy hadn't actually seen Wade killed.

But citing precedent, a panel of judges from the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Stacy's right to sue in a 2-1 ruling.

Stacy's lawsuit, which alleges the freighter wasn't paying attention to other traffic with radar or lookouts, can now move forward.

Jackson West would need psychiatric treatment, too, if he barely made it out of the path of an oncoming freighter.