Opinion ID: 2423126
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Review of Loss of Consortium Case Law

Text: [¶ 9] Because the parties dispute the extent of Brown's effect on our earlier loss of consortium decisions, we review our relevant decisions as a prelude to our examination of Brown. [¶ 10] Dionne v. Libbey-Owens Ford Co., 621 A.2d 414, 416-17 (Me.1993), considered whether the money damages recovered by a wife from a third-party tortfeasor on her statutory loss of consortium claim [4] that arose from her husband's workplace injury were subject to a lien by the husband's employer pursuant to the Workers' Compensation Act, 39 M.R.S.A. § 68 (1989) (now codified at 39-A M.R.S. § 107 (2010)). We concluded that the damages were not subject to the lien, recognizing that the Legislature created a separate right of the wife to bring a loss of consortium claim in her own name. Dionne, 621 A.2d at 417-18. [¶ 11] Consistent with Dionne, in Hardy, we described a wife's loss of consortium claim as an independent cause of action that is separate from her injured husband's underlying tort claim. 1999 ME 142, ¶ 12, 739 A.2d at 372. There, the issue presented was whether the husband's pre-injury release of liability barred his wife's separate loss of consortium claim. Id. ¶¶ 2, 7, 739 A.2d at 369, 370-71. We reasoned that although a loss of consortium claim is derivative in the sense that both causes of action arise from the same set of facts, the injured spouse's claim is based on common law, whereas the loss of consortium claim is based on a statute that establishes a separate right of the other spouse to sue in that person's own name. Id. ¶ 12, 739 A.2d at 372 (quotation marks omitted); see also 14 M.R.S. § 302. Accordingly, we held that the husband's pre-injury release of liability did not bar his wife's independent loss of consortium claim. Hardy, 1999 ME 142, ¶ 12, 739 A.2d at 372. Hardy left open the question of whether a loss of consortium claim is subject to the same defenses applicable to the claim of the injured spouse. Id. ¶ 12 n. 6, 739 A.2d at 372. [¶ 12] In Parent, we held that a wife's settlement of her medical malpractice claim did not bar her husband's independent loss of consortium claim because his joinder was not mandatory even though he was aware of the wife's claim when it was filed. 2005 ME 112, ¶¶ 4, 14, 16, 884 A.2d at 94, 96. This conclusion was based on our prior decisions in Dionne and Hardy, section 302's explicit grant of the right of a spouse to bring a consortium claim in the spouse's own name, and the absence of any indicia of legislative intent to require mandatory joinder of a party claiming loss of consortium. Id. ¶¶ 14, 16, 884 A.2d at 96. [¶ 13] In sum, at the time we considered Brown in 2008, our prior decisions established that (1) although arising from the same underlying occurrence as the injured spouse's claim, a statutory loss of consortium claim can be asserted independently; (2) an injured spouse's pre-injury release of liability does not bar the other spouse's independent loss of consortium claim; and (3) an injured spouse's settlement of a tort claim does not bar the other spouse's independent statutory loss of consortium claim because joinder in the underlying claim is not mandatory. [¶ 14] In Brown, we considered how to apply a comparative negligence offset [5] to wrongful death damages awarded for the surviving spouse and/or minor children's loss of consortium. [6] 2008 ME 186, ¶¶ 2, 22, 960 A.2d at 1190, 1194. Citing Hardy and Parent, we stated, We have previously treated loss of consortium claims as independent claims, but [a]fter further consideration, we conclude that loss of consortium claims necessarily arise from the same negligent act as the underlying tort claims and are therefore subject to the same rules and limitations. Accordingly, we hold that a loss of consortium claim is a derivative claim, and to the extent our prior decisions have held otherwise, we overrule those decisions. Id. ¶ 23, 960 A.2d at 1194-95. [¶ 15] Brown thus concluded that loss of consortium damages awarded as part of a wrongful death claim are subject to reduction pursuant to the comparative negligence statute, 14 M.R.S. § 156 (2010), and that a jury may consider the deceased spouse or parent's comparative fault when determining loss of consortium damages.