Court Opinion

ID: 9755664
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 20:46:02.296202+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:10.039006
License: Public Domain

SAYLOR, Justice
concurring.
I join the majority opinion, as the common-law precedent of this Court (of which the General Assembly is presumed to be aware in crafting legislation), limits consortium claims to the spousal setting. I note only that, to the extent that the majority opinion relies on a plain meaning approach, I am in alignment insofar as this connotes plain meaning as informed by the common-law development.' Absent this context, I would tend toward the broader view of consortium, as reflected, for example, in Black’s Law Dictionary, which includes filial and parental consortium under the general definition. See Black’s Law Dictionary 304 (7th ed.1999); see also Brandon ex rel. Estate of Brandon v. County of Richardson, 261 Neb. 636, 624 N.W.2d 604, 625 (2001) (“This court has consistently recognized that in an action for wrongful death of a child, recoverable damages include parental loss of the child’s society, comfort, and companionship.”). In this regard, and in fairness, I also acknowledge that the contrary interpretation is not without support outside of the Pennsylvania common law. See, e.g., Black’s Law Dictionary 958 (defining “loss of consortium” as the “loss of benefits that one spouse is entitled to receive from the other”).
Justice NIGRO joins this concurring opinion.