Opinion ID: 444550
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Award to Harry

Text: 58 The parent of an injured child is entitled to recover from the tortfeasor for the parent's resulting pecuniary loss, including expenditures for the treatment of the infant and the value of the infant's services that were lost. Gilbert v. Stanton Brewery, 295 N.Y. 270, 67 N.E.2d 155 (1946). Under New York law, the parent may not recover for the loss of the child's companionship or society. Id.; Foti v. Quittel, 19 A.D.2d 635, 241 N.Y.S.2d 15 (2d Dep't 1963). All claimed pecuniary losses, including loss of services, must be proved in order to sustain an award for such loss. Id. 59 The trial court charged the jury that Harry was entitled to recover damages for expenses incurred by reason of the medical, hospital, nursing services, and other expenses made necessary as a result of his son's injuries, and for the pecuniary loss Harry sustained by the loss of his son's services from the time of the accident to the age of 21. Plaintiff proved expenditures totaling nearly $26,000. The jury awarded Harry $250,000. On the evidence adduced, this award was grossly excessive. 60 Each appellant takes a slightly different view as to the excessiveness of the award to Harry. Kawasaki argues, without citing any compelling authority, that Harry was not entitled to recover the approximately $21,000 spent on sending Brent to private schools after the accident (see note 5 supra ) and that only some $4,000 in medical expenses were recoverable. Thus it argues that the jury awarded $246,000 for loss of services, which would amount to more than $50,000 a year for the period until Brent reached majority at the age of 21. Revy assumes that the education expenses were recoverable as special damages; he thus calculates the award to Harry for loss of Brent's services as $224,000, or $45,000 a year. Cutro argues that even if the education expenses were properly included as special damages, the award to Harry for lost services exceeded $112,000 a year, because Brent reached majority at age 18, not 21. Revy's position is the most reasonable. 61 Although defendants objected at trial to the introduction of proof as to the education expenses, they did not request the trial judge to charge that those expenses were not recoverable as special damages. Nor have they cited to this Court any authority on point. We thus assume that the jury awarded compensation to Harry for education expenses as part of his special damages, and that the special damage award amounted to approximately $26,000, with the remainder, $224,000, being an award for loss of services. 62 As to the proper age of majority, no defendant asked the trial judge to charge the jury that Harry was not entitled to recover for the loss of Brent's services past the age of 18, and there was no objection to the court's instruction using the age of 21. Nor do we think such an objection would have been well taken. Although in 1974 New York lowered the age of majority from 21 to 18 for many purposes, see, e.g., N.Y.Dom.Rel.Law Sec. 2 (McKinney 1977); N.Y.Civ.Prac.Law Sec. 105(j) (McKinney Supp. 1983-1984), it did not do so for all purposes, see id. Supplementary Practice Commentaries. A parent remains obliged to support a child until age 21, N.Y.Dom.Rel.Law Sec. 32, and thus is entitled to recover from a tortfeasor for medical expenses occasioned by the injury of the child until the child is 21, Clough v. Board of Education, 56 A.D.2d 233, 236, 392 N.Y.S.2d 170, 173 (4th Dep't 1977). We have seen no basis for believing that the duration of the parent's entitlement to the child's services is not coextensive with the duration of his obligation of support. 63 The jury's award of $224,000 for the loss of Brent's services was thus for the four years and eleven months between the date of the accident and Brent's majority at age 21, and averaged more than $45,000 a year. The evidence as to the services that were lost, however, was scant in the extreme, consisting of a few statements that Brent could no longer perform household chores such as helping with gardening, painting, and hanging wallpaper. The award of $45,000 a year for the loss of these services is outrageously extravagant and is many times higher than any award condoned by New York courts in any case involving a parent's claims for the loss of services of an injured child. See, e.g., Pratt v. Susquehanna Valley Central School District, 62 A.D.2d 1118, 404 N.Y.S.2d 435 (3d Dep't 1978) (reducing award for loss of one year of junior-high-school-age infant's services from $9,000 to $3,000); Florence v. Goldberg, 57 A.D.2d 914, 395 N.Y.S.2d 57 (2d Dep't 1977) (reducing award to mother for loss of 6 1/2-year-old child's services from some $14,000 for each year of the child's minority to approximately $4,000 a year), aff'd, 44 N.Y.2d 189, 404 N.Y.S.2d 583, 375 N.E.2d 763 (1978); Kusisto v. McLean, 52 A.D.2d at 675, 382 N.Y.S.2d at 148 (reducing award for loss of two years of services of 18-year-old from $20,000 to $16,000, or $8,000 a year). 64 In light of the guidance provided by the New York cases, we conclude that the scanty evidence in the present case could not justify an award of damages to Harry of as much as $7,000 per year for the remainder of Brent's minority. Given that the evidence supported an award to Harry of approximately $26,000 in special damages, we conclude that any total award in excess of $60,000 was excessive. Taking into account the extent to which Brent was found contributorily negligent, therefore, judgment on Harry's claims should not have been entered in an amount in excess of $40,000. 65