Opinion ID: 1694889
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: dempsey

Text: The district court below held that under United States v. Dempsey, 635 So.2d 961 (Fla.1994), and the prevailing common law, a parent may be awarded damages for loss of filial consortium, but only for the period until the child attains majority. Because we approve of the district court's analysis we quote it here: Since the factual issue of whether Cruz was severely and permanently injured will be re-considered by the jury on remand, we need not discuss it here. In order to guide the trial court in instructing the jury on re-trial, however, it is necessary to discuss the issue of whether an award to a parent for loss of filial consortium as a result of severe injury to a child is limited to, or extends beyond, the child's minority. In United States v. Dempsey, 635 So.2d 961 (Fla.1994), the supreme court recognized a parent's right to recover for the permanent loss of filial consortium due to a significant injury which results in the child's permanent total disability. See id. at 965. The court defined loss of consortium to include not only the traditional loss of the child's services and earnings, as at common law, but also the loss of companionship, society, love, affection, and solace of the injured child. See id. In expanding the common law beyond only pecuniary damages, the supreme court noted: This is a logical conclusion in light of the fact that when our common law rules are in doubt, this Court considers the `changes in our social and economic customs and present day conceptions of right and justice.' Hoffman v. Jones, 280 So.2d 431, 435 (Fla.1973) (quoting Ripley[v. Ewell, 61 So.2d 420, 423 (Fla.1952)]). Certainly, in 1973, when this Court set forth the elements of damages that a parent of an injured child is entitled to recover, it was apparent that a child's companionship and society were of far more value to the parent than were the services rendered by the child. Thus, there was an obvious need to recognize this element of damages to fully compensate the parent for the loss suffered because of a negligent injury to the child. The recognition of the loss of companionship element of damages clearly reflects our modern concept of family relationships. See id. at 964. In Dempsey, the supreme court did not expressly speak to the issue of whether damages for loss of filial consortium should be limited to the child's minority, or whether they should extend into the child's majority. Although the supreme court in that case clearly expanded the common law to provide parents of severely injured children with an additional element of recovery, we do not, however, read Dempsey as a license to abandon all of the common law in this area. Specifically, at common law, damages for the loss of a child's services and earnings were recoverable only to the end of the child's minority. See generally Wilkie v. Roberts, 91 Fla. 1064, 109 So. 225, 227 (1926) (At common law, a parent's recovery for his pecuniary loss as a result of injury to his child was limited to two elements: (1) The loss of the child's services and earnings, present and prospective, to the end of the minority; and (2) medical expenses in effecting or attempting to effect a cure.). We do not interpret Dempsey as having either expressly or impliedly broadened the recovery to a time beyond the child's majority. We, therefore, are compelled to follow common law unless and until our supreme court states otherwise. See Hoffman, 280 So.2d at 435. Thus, on remand, should the jury find that Cruz suffered a severe, permanent injury, the filial consortium award to Cruz's mother should be calculated only from the date of the incident to the date Cruz attained majority. Broward County School Board v. Cruz, 761 So.2d 388, 395-96 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000) (footnote omitted). As noted by the district court, in Dempsey we did not expressly speak to the issue of whether the parents' claim for loss of filial consortium was limited to the child's minority. However, we did emphasize our view that due to changing times it had become apparent that a child's companionship and society were of far more value to the parent than were the services rendered by the child. Dempsey at 964. Hence, we determined that parents should be entitled to recover damages for loss of a child's companionship and society just as parents had previously been entitled to recover for loss of the child's services. Of course, any recovery for loss of services was limited under the common law to the period before a child becomes an adult. We did nothing in Dempsey to change that rule of limitation. Indeed, in Florida, a parent is not entitled to any claim for damages when an adult child incurs personal injuries due to the tortious conduct of another. It would make little sense to allow for damages into the adulthood of a child in the one instance but not in the other. Accordingly, we hold that under Dempsey the parents' claim is limited to the child's minority. We answer the certified question in the negative and approve the district court's opinion and decision. It is so ordered. WELLS, C.J., HARDING, ANSTEAD, and LEWIS, JJ., and WEBSTER, Associate Justice, concur. SHAW, J., dissents with an opinion, in which QUINCE, J., concurs. PARIENTE, J., recused. SHAW, J., dissenting. The majority opinion holds that when parents recover damages for loss of a child's companionship and society, this recovery must be limited to the period before the child becomes an adult. I respectfully dissent because I believe, contrary to the majority's conclusion, that the common law in this area has been supplanted by statute and case law addressing wrongful injury.