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Winslow v. Montana Rail Link12/18/2001
en alleged, not whether the mental distress claimed is minor or serious.
The reasoning in the majority opinion opens a Pandora's Box for the invasion of individual privacy in the average personal injury case. For example, where mental distress is alleged as a result of physical injury and because of the severity of the physical injury the mental distress will also necessarily be severe, does the majority opinion mean that psychiatric examinations of the plaintiff are now authorized even though no independent claim for intentional or negligent infliction of emotional distress has been alleged? I don't think that's the majority's intention but it would be hard to argue with that application of its decision. If that is in fact how its decision is to be applied, the potential for harassment of injured victims who seek compensation for injuries caused by the negligence of others is only limited by the defendant's litigation budget.
The majority opinion is a bad result not warranted by any reasonable interpretation of the "good cause" requirement found at Rule 35, M.R.Civ.P. For these reasons, I dissent from the majority's conclusion that based on the facts in this case the District Court did not abuse its discretion when it authorized a mental examination of the petitioner, Gary Winslow.
TERRY N. TRIEWEILER
Justice Patricia O. Cotter joins in the foregoing dissent.
PATRICIA COTTER
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