Opinion ID: 658569
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Remittitur of Awards to Children

Text: 21 Placid claims that the district court should have granted its motion for remittitur regarding the awards of $15,000 to each of the three minor children for past and future losses of their father's society because the awards were excessive and were not supported by the evidence. Plaintiffs attempted to show that Marcel was no longer able to play with the children as he had before the accident, that he was short-tempered, and that the children were too young to understand the reasons for their father's change. 7 22 We review the denial of a motion for new trial or motion for remittitur for an abuse of discretion. Brunnemann v. Terra Int'l, Inc., 975 F.2d 175, 177 (5th Cir.1992). Where a damage award is excessive or so large as to appear contrary to right reason, the award is generally subject to remittitur, not a new trial. Id. at 178. 23 We review a claim of excessiveness by comparing the awards at issue with rulings in other factually similar cases decided under controlling law, here Louisiana law. Douglass v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., 897 F.2d 1336, 1339 (5th Cir.1990); see also In re Air Crash Disaster Near New Orleans, 767 F.2d 1151, 1156 (5th Cir.1985) ([f]or what rough guidance they provide, we examine past awards for similar injuries). 8 24 Upon an examination of the awards for loss of a parent's society allowed by Louisiana courts, we conclude that the awards to plaintiffs' minor children in this case were excessive. In cases where the loss sustained by the child is similar to that in the case before us, Louisiana awards are uniformly between one and five thousand dollars per child. See LeBaron v. Allstate Ins. Co., 572 So.2d 174 (La.App. 1st Cir.1990) (noting unchallenged awards of $2,000 to each child for loss of consortium), writ denied, 575 So.2d 827 (La.1991); Savoy v. Martiny Warehouse, Inc., 539 So.2d 884 (La.App. 4th Cir.1989) (affirming awards of $1,000 and $2,000 where father no longer played with children for fear of re-injury); Peterson v. Western World Ins. Co., 536 So.2d 639 (La.App. 1st Cir.1988) (affirming awards of $5,000 to each child where father was short-tempered and no longer participated in activities with children), writ denied, 541 So.2d 858 (La.1989). 25 Only in exceptional circumstances has a larger award been upheld. In Trahan v. Thomas, 544 So.2d 695 (La.App.3d Cir.1989), the court affirmed an award of $35,000. There, however, the child was physically and mentally disabled prior to his mother's accident and to an unusual extent relied on her for his special needs. The loss of the mother's care in that extraordinary situation is not factually analogous to our case and has no tendency to justify the awards in question. 26 We conclude that the district court abused its discretion in denying Placid's motion for a new trial or for remittitur of the children's awards. We direct a remittitur of the awards to each child from $15,000 to $7,000.00 under application of the maximum recovery rule. 9 Should plaintiffs refuse to accept this remittitur, we direct the district court to grant a new trial on this issue.