Opinion ID: 2305543
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Damages for Barbara's and Robert's Injuries

Text: [¶ 26] Barbara contends that the court's award did not adequately compensate her for the injuries it acknowledged she suffered. Robert contends that he has suffered greater injuries than the court's award reflects because he had to cease travelling for his occupation, resulting in lost wages, and he had to take on extra responsibilities in the home to assist his wife. The defendants contend that the court did not commit clear error in calculating these damages. [¶ 27] In general, we will not substitute our judgment for that of the [fact finder] in assessing damages and will not disturb the [fact finder]'s damage award unless that award is a product of bias, prejudice, improper influence, or was reached under a mistake of law or in disregard of the facts .... Bradford v. Dumond, 675 A.2d 957, 962 (Me.1996); see also Galilean Gospel Temple, 1999 ME 2, ¶ 17, 722 A.2d at 1273 (stating an award will be disturbed if it lacks a rational basis). [¶ 28] The court awarded Barbara more than the full amount she claimed for her medical and non-medical expenses, and lost wages. She does not provide any specific reasons in her brief for challenging the amount of the award. We affirm the award of damages to Barbara because the court's award has a rational basis and does not disregard the facts. [¶ 29] As to Robert's claim of pecuniary loss, the court erred in failing to determine whether he established damages for lost wages. Although the court stated it would not award lost wages pursuant to Robert's loss of consortium claim, it erred in failing to determine whether he established wage loss damages pursuant to his separate claim for pecuniary loss.