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

Heading: New Trial on Wrongful Death Damages Only

Text: 12 Owens-Corning argues that if a new trial was properly granted, it should have been granted as to all issues and not on wrongful death damages alone. The propriety of granting a new trial on damages alone is governed by federal law. See Continental Cas. Co. v. Howard, 775 F.2d 876, 883 (7th Cir.1985). Partial trials are proper if it clearly appears that the issue to be retried is so distinct and separable from the others that a trial of it alone may be had without injustice. Gasoline Prods. Co. v. Champlin Refining Co., 283 U.S. 494, 500, 51 S.Ct. 513, 515, 75 L.Ed. 1188 (1931). If, however, the question of damages ... is so interwoven with that of liability that the former cannot be submitted to the jury independently of the latter without confusion and uncertainty, id., then a trial on only one issue is tantamount to a denial of a fair trial. See id. We review a district court's decision to grant a partial new trial on damages for abuse of discretion. See Medcom, 106 F.3d at 1397. 13 The district court found that Owens-Corning's liability presented a question distinct from that of damages. The finding of liability required McClain to prove knowledge, breach of a duty of care, and causation, while the damages issue concerned loss to the McClain family caused by Charles McClain's death. Liability and damages are separated not only by the elements required but also by timing; the liability inquiry involved questions of Owens-Corning's knowledge and actions in the 1950s-1970s, while the damages inquiry focused on the period after Charles McClain's death in 1990. We therefore agree with the district court that these issues are sufficiently separate. Additionally, it is highly unlikely that the error in awarding damages tainted the liability finding. Thus the district court did not abuse its discretion by ordering the new trial to proceed on the question of damages alone. 14