The Appellate Division, First Department court on Thursday broke with its prior precedent and ruled that “extreme and outrageous conduct is not an essential element” to recover damages for negligent infliction of emotional distress.

“To the extent that a number of this Court’s past decisions have indicated that extreme and outrageous conduct is a required element in order to sustain a cause of action for negligent infliction of emotional distress, those cases should no longer be followed,” wrote Justice Troy K. Webber in a signed opinion in the case largely brought by 16 “Jane Does” against the New York Design Center and other defendants.