Case Title: Lockhart v. Besel

Citation: 426 P.2d 605, 71 Wash. 2d 112

Docket Number: 

State: washington

Court: Washington Supreme Court

Date: 1967-04-20T00:00:00Z

Document:
71 Wn.2d 112 (1967) 426 P.2d 605 DONALD C. LOCKHART, Appellant, v. CONRAD BESEL et al., Respondents.[*] No. 38272. The Supreme Court of Washington, En Banc. April 20, 1967. Neill, Aitken & Schauble, by Albert J. Schauble, for appellant. Richard R. Loucks, for respondents. Sam L. Levinson (of Levinson & Friedman), James McCutcheon (of McCutcheon & Groshong), John J. Sullivan (of Sullivan, Redman & Winsor) and Leon L. Wolfstone (of Wolfstone & Panchot, amici curiae. HUNTER, J. This is an action for the wrongful death of a 17-year-old boy instituted by his father, Donald C. Lockhart, plaintiff (appellant), against the defendants (respondents), Conrad Besel and his wife, and their son, Roland L. Besel. The deceased, Richard E. Lockhart, was a student in his senior year in St. John High School. He resided with his *113 parents on a small farm near Ewan, Washington, where they were engaged in raising hogs. About 3 weeks prior to Richard's death his parents had purchased for him an Indian motorcycle for the purpose of going to and from school. On November 3, 1963, about 4:45 p.m., Richard was returning home after repairing an oil leak on his motorcycle at his uncle's place in St. John. About 3 1/2 miles east of St. John, on Highway No. 18, he met a car approaching from the opposite direction driven by his aunt, Teressa Black. Roland L. Besel was following the Black car in the family car of his parents, when he attempted to pass the Black car on a curve, whereupon he met Richard on his motorcycle in Richard's lane of travel. A collision occurred and Richard died from the resulting injuries. The plaintiff alleged that the defendants' car was operated in a negligent manner, which was the proximate cause of his son's death. The defendants denied their negligence and affirmatively alleged contributory negligence of the plaintiff. The evidence shows that the deceased was an outstanding boy in the community; he was a good student, a hard worker, an athlete, and a leader in his class. He weighed about 170 to 180 pounds. He was interested in pharmacy and intended entering college, but planned to stay home for a year or two after graduation from high school to help his father in the operation of his hog ranch, and to complete the family home. He had learned to operate a self-propelled combine and was capable of making $30 a day for some 60 days during harvest. In addition to helping his father in his hog business, he assisted him in his janitorial work at the school in Ewan. After Richard's death, his father had to give up his $3,000-a-year job at the Ewan school, and he developed reverses in his hog business which he also discontinued. At the conclusion of a jury trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff for $6,363.07, of which $1,863.07 was for medical and funeral expenses and property damage as stipulated to in the record. The plaintiff *114 moved for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict, increasing the amount of the verdict, or in the alternative for a new trial, which was denied. The plaintiff appeals. The plaintiff contends the trial court erred in omitting from its instruction No. 14 on damages the following: The plaintiff acknowledges that the proposed instruction departs from the present Washington rule in this regard, but argues that such an instruction is necessary in order to compensate a parent for the real loss of his child. The present rule was set forth by the trial court's instruction No. 14: The plaintiff argues that the present rule is unjust and archaic, that it fails to recognize that economic benefit from children is no longer a matter of parental concern, and that the modern parental attitude is one of sacrifice for the success of children. The plaintiff urges that we should therefore extend the rule, permitting the jury to consider the loss of companionship in evaluating the damages for the wrongful death of a minor child. The limitation of damages to a parent for pecuniary loss of a child's services is predicated upon a rule announced by this court 74 years ago in the case of Hedrick v. Ilwaco Ry. & Nav. Co., 4 Wash. 400, 30 Pac. 714 (1892). We there said: From the inception of the rule, supra, the argument has been advanced that in the absence of the proof of special pecuniary damages, it is speculative to say that the earnings of a minor child exceed the cost of his support and maintenance during his minority; that a judgment or verdict for more than nominal damages should not be sustained. We have answered this argument, however, by following the majority rule in other jurisdictions which is that such statutes contemplate a recovery to the parents for more than nominal damages in the case of wrongful death of their minor child. This construction placed upon our statute, RCW 4.24.010, is clearly enunciated in Sweeten v. Pacific Power & Light Co., 88 Wash. 679, 683, 153 Pac. 1054 (1915): The difficulty in supporting judgments for more than nominal damages in these cases, reflected by the changing conditions of our economy, was recognized affirmatively by this court in Skeels v. Davidson, 18 Wn.2d 358, 139 P.2d 301, 149 A.L.R. 225 (1943). In that case the jury awarded the parents $1,000 exclusive of funeral expenses for the wrongful death of their child, 6-1/2 years of age. The evidence showed that the child was retarded and the parents as a result thereof incurred substantial expenses for his care and maintenance. We observed at 367: We then stated: We later observed at 369: In Skeels we recognized a parent's right to recover what was then a substantial amount for the death of a child who would always have been a hopeless and expensive burden. While the court did not put it into words, any recovery could be justified only on the basis of loss of companionship. Since the Skeels case in 1942, economic conditions and our way of life have so significantly changed that to say the pecuniary value of the loss of a minor child's services over and above his cost of support and maintenance, except in rare cases, is not a pure fiction can no longer be ignored. We must now conclude that to award more than nominal damages in every case where we limit damages to the loss of a minor child's earnings above the cost of his support and maintenance, is an affront to reason and logic. [1, 2] We adhere to our prior construction of the statute, RCW 4.24.010, supra, that the legislature intended that recovery for more than nominal damages should be allowed in these cases: Atrops v. Costello, 8 Wash. 149, 35 Pac. 620 (1894); Atkeson v. Jackson Estate, 72 Wash. 233, 130 Pac. 102 (1913); Sweeten v. Pacific Power & Light Co., supra; Skeels v. Davidson, supra. However, to give effect to this legislative intent, the measure of damages which we have heretofore allowed under RCW 4.24.010, supra, must be extended. We hold that the measure of damages under RCW 4.24.010, supra, should be extended to include the loss of companionship of a minor child during his minority without giving any consideration for grief, mental anguish or suffering of the parents by reason of such child's wrongful death. This rule is consistent with the better reasoned cases and the modern trend in other jurisdictions of this country. Fussner v. Andert, 261 Minn. 347, 113 N.W.2d 355 (1961); Zeller v. Reid, 38 Cal. App. 2d 622, 101 P.2d 730 (1940); Gardner v. Hobbs, 69 Ida. 288, 206 P.2d 539, 14 A.L.R.2d 478 (1949); Van Cleave v. Lynch, 109 Utah 149, 166 P.2d 244 (1946); "Measure of Damages For Wrongful *118 Death of a Minor Child," 18 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 277 (1961). All cases heretofore decided by this court inconsistent with our holding in this case are hereby overruled. The plaintiff, having raised the issue of the extension of the rule for the measure of damages under RCW 4.24.010, supra, in both the trial court and on this appeal, is entitled to the benefit of the new rule we have announced in this case and should be afforded a new trial. For the guidance of the court on retrial we will consider the plaintiff's further contention that the trial court erred in failing to include the following in the instruction on damages to the jury: [3] Plaintiff contends that the use of the word "substantial" is proper in that we have used comparable language in our previous opinions. The use of the word in prior wrongful death cases, as in Skeels v. Davidson, supra, was not in the context of an approved instruction, but rather in the support of jury verdicts that had been challenged as excessive, and to justify the legislative intent that the plaintiff be permitted to recover more than nominal damages in all wrongful death cases. In any event, since we have given effect to this legislative intent by now permitting the jury to consider loss of companionship of a minor child in such actions, there is no necessity for the proposed instruction, and to give it at the retrial of this case would be improper and prejudicial to the defendants. The judgment of the trial court entered upon the jury verdict is reversed, and the cause is remanded for trial on all issues consistent with our holding in this opinion. Costs will abide the final determination of the cause. FINLEY, C.J., HILL, DONWORTH, WEAVER, ROSELLINI, HAMILTON, and HALE, JJ., concur. [*] Reported in 426 P.2d 605.