Opinion ID: 752889
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Exclusion of Evidence of McClain's Cohabitation

Text: 15 Prior to both trials, McClain moved in limine to preclude Owens-Corning from introducing evidence concerning her relationship and cohabitation with her deceased husband's cousin, Paul Gaddey. The trial court found that such evidence was more prejudicial than probative and thus granted the motions, precluding Owens-Corning from raising this issue at either trial. 16 In an offer of proof made outside the presence of the jury, McClain testified that she has shared a residence with Gaddey for over three years. McClain stated that they are good friends and have known each other since McClain was fifteen years old. McClain testified that she and Gaddey have separate bedrooms and do not commingle finances. McClain and Gaddey socialize together and McClain considers Gaddey her companion. Owens-Corning argues that evidence of McClain's relationship with Gaddey should have been admitted because it bears on the elements of consortium. 17 Although this is a diversity case, evidentiary issues are governed by federal law. See Klonowski v. International Armament Corp., 17 F.3d 992, 995 (7th Cir.1994); Barron v. Ford Motor Co. of Can., 965 F.2d 195, 198-99 (7th Cir.1992). Owens-Corning bears an onerous burden 'because a reviewing court gives special deference to the evidentiary rulings of the trial court.'  Berry v. Deloney, 28 F.3d 604, 607 (7th Cir.1994) (quoting Ross v. Black & Decker, Inc., 977 F.2d 1178, 1183 (7th Cir.1992)). We will reverse a trial court's evidentiary ruling only if the court abused its discretion. See Wheeler v. Sims, 951 F.2d 796, 802 (7th Cir.1992). [T]he abuse of discretion standard is met only when the trial judge's 'decision is based on an erroneous conclusion of law or where the record contains no evidence on which [s]he rationally could have based that decision, or where the supposed facts found are clearly erroneous.'  Id. (quoting Deitchman v. E.R. Squibb & Sons, Inc., 740 F.2d 556, 563-64 (7th Cir.1984)). 18 Although evidentiary decisions are based on federal law, the district court must look to Illinois law to determine whether this kind of information is probative on the question of wrongful death damages. The Illinois law to which the district court turned was the law on loss of consortium claims. On appeal, the parties briefed the issue assuming that McClain's claim was properly categorized as a loss of consortium claim. Accordingly, we will consider McClain's claim to be for loss of consortium, and we will examine the probative value of the evidence of cohabitation in relation to the Illinois law on loss of consortium. 19 In 1982, the Illinois Supreme Court determined that the Illinois Wrongful Death Act permitted recovery for loss of consortium. See Elliott v. Willis, 92 Ill.2d 530, 65 Ill.Dec. 852, 857, 442 N.E.2d 163, 168 (1982). Consortium includes society, guidance, companionship, felicity, and sexual relations. See id. at 854, 442 N.E.2d at 165. It is unique to a marriage partner. See id. The Illinois courts have established that damages for loss of consortium terminate upon the surviving spouse's remarriage, regardless of the potential differences between the deceased and new spouses. See Carter v. Chicago & Ill. Midland Ry. Co., 130 Ill.App.3d 431, 85 Ill.Dec. 730, 735, 474 N.E.2d 458, 463 (1985) ([I]f loss of consortium is sought, it must be actual loss; that is, loss up to the time of remarriage. It may be true ... that consortium with the deceased spouse may have been of a different quality from that with the present spouse, but such speculations could lead only to Aristophanes' Nepheloccocygia.). 20 The Illinois courts have not conclusively resolved whether cohabitation is relevant to loss of consortium damages. In the only case where cohabitation was at issue, the court declined to address the defendant's argument that the remarriage rule--that recovery for loss of consortium terminates upon remarriage--should be extended to apply to cohabitation. See Martin v. Illinois Central R.R., 237 Ill.App.3d 910, 179 Ill.Dec. 177, 185, 606 N.E.2d 9, 17 (1991). In Martin, the defendant argued that the trial court had improperly limited its evidence on damages by not permitting it to show that the plaintiff cohabited with a man after her husband's death. See id. The defendant argued that the plaintiff should not have been allowed to recover loss of consortium damages for the time she cohabited. See id. While the court declined to address directly the defendant's claim, it did hold that the trial court did not err in excluding the evidence of the plaintiff's cohabitation. See id. 21 Given this precedent, we find that whether or not McClain is cohabiting with someone is irrelevant to the question of the loss she suffered as a result of her husband's death. The Illinois courts recognize that [t]he loss of consortium reflects the loss of personal benefits and satisfactions the surviving spouse enjoyed as a result of a highly individualized relationship with a particular person. Pfeifer v. Canyon Constr. Co., 253 Ill.App.3d 1017, 195 Ill.Dec. 282, 290, 628 N.E.2d 746, 754 (1993). That McClain may be finding some comfort in her new companion does not negate the loss she incurred as a result of her husband's death. Owens-Corning's argument that her loss should in some way be offset by the companionship she receives from Gaddey is unpersuasive. The Illinois Appellate Court rejected such comparisons between deceased and new spouses, see Carter, 85 Ill.Dec. at 735, 474 N.E.2d at 463, and we believe the Illinois Supreme Court would frown on such comparisons between deceased spouses and new cohabitants. 1 22 Owens-Corning cites Countryman v. County of Winnebago, 135 Ill.App.3d 384, 90 Ill.Dec. 344, 481 N.E.2d 1255 (1985), in support of its position. Countryman is easily distinguishable from this case. In Countryman, prior to her husband's death, the wife learned that he was having an affair. After his death, she sued under the Illinois wrongful death statute, making a claim for, inter alia, loss of consortium. The trial court allowed the evidence of the extramarital affair, finding that it was probative on the issue of the value of the relationship prior to the husband's death. In the instant case, the question of whether or not McClain is currently cohabiting with a man has no impact on the value of her relationship to her husband prior to his death. 23 In light of the Illinois precedent on loss of consortium, we hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion by excluding evidence that McClain cohabits with Gaddey. 24 Because we find that the district court neither abused its discretion in ordering a new trial solely on wrongful death damages nor in excluding evidence of McClain's cohabitation with Gaddey, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.