Bowman v. Koch Transfer Co.
| Decision Date | 07 December 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. 87-3900,87-3900 |
| Parties | Ruth E. BOWMAN, Former-Plaintiff, Peter T. Zackaroff, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. KOCH TRANSFER CO., Steve Steidinger, and Moran & Carroll, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Andrew J. Michaels, Michaels & McGown, Akron, Ohio, Dale A. Bernard (argued), Ulmer & Berne, Cleveland, Ohio, for plaintiff-appellant.
John A. Neville, Reminger & Reminger Co., Roy A. Hulme (argued), Cleveland, Ohio, for defendants-appellees.
Before KEITH, GUY and RYAN, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiff claims that the district court erred in applying Illinois law to the issue of damages in this wrongful death action. Plaintiff also claims that the district court improperly excluded evidence and improperly rejected proposed jury instructions regarding the custody of the minor children of the decedent. For the reasons set forth below, we find that the law of Illinois applies to the issue of damages in this action, that the district court properly exercised its discretion in excluding the proffered evidence, and that the district court's instruction to the jury accurately stated the relevant law.
This wrongful death action arises out of the death of Maureen Kaviris, an Ohio resident, who was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer truck on June 4, 1984, as she was riding her bicycle near Pittsfield, Illinois, en route cross-country from Akron, Ohio, to Denver, Colorado. The driver of the truck, defendant Steve Steidinger, who is a resident of Illinois, was employed at the time of the accident by defendant Moran & Carroll, a partnership with its principal place of business in Illinois, and by defendant Koch Transfer Company, a Delaware Corporation with its principal place of business in Illinois.
Peter T. Zackaroff, administrator of the estate of Maureen Kaviris, brought this action in the United States District Court, Northern District of Ohio, (Amended Complaint at 1-2). 1 Defendants answered the complaint on September 13, 1985, waiving any personal jurisdiction defense. In their subsequent answer to the amended complaint, defendants stated: "The defendants deny this is a proper action pursuant to the provisions of Ohio Revised Code Sections 2125.01 and 2305.21."
The case proceeded to trial before a jury on July 21, 1987. During the afternoon of the second day of trial, the court heard arguments on the question of whether the Ohio wrongful death act or the Illinois wrongful death act was controlling on the question of damages. 2 Defendants argued that Illinois law applied, while the plaintiff argued that Ohio law applied. At the close of arguments, the district court held that "Illinois law applies and should be followed." 3 At the close of the proofs on July 23, 1987, plaintiff moved for a directed verdict on the issue of liability. The following day, the court granted plaintiff's motion. 4 Thereafter, the jury awarded plaintiff $170,700 in damages. 5
Plaintiff now appeals, raising three claims of error: (1) the district court improperly found that the Illinois, rather than the Ohio, wrongful death statute applied to the damages issue; (2) the district court improperly excluded certain evidence regarding the custody of the decedent's children; and (3) the district court improperly denied the plaintiff's requested charge to the jury regarding certain custody matters. We address the issues raised by plaintiff, seriatim.
Plaintiff claims that the district court erred in finding that the Illinois wrongful death act governed in this action rather than the Ohio wrongful death act. Plaintiff notes that under the Ohio act, recovery is allowed for the mental anguish and bereavement of the decedent's beneficiaries; while under the Illinois act, such damages are not recoverable. Also, under the Ohio act, the beneficiaries would include decedent's mother, brother, sister, and grandmother; while under the Illinois act, the beneficiaries are limited by the state's statute of descent and distribution and would include only the decedent's five minor children.
A federal district court sitting in diversity must apply the conflict of laws rule of the forum state. Klaxon Co. v. Stentor Electric Mfg. Co., 313 U.S. 487, 496, 61 S.Ct. 1020, 1021, 85 L.Ed. 1477 (1941); Jones v. Wittenberg University, 534 F.2d 1203, 1213 (6th Cir.1976). In this case, therefore, Ohio conflict of law rules must be applied to determine whether Ohio or Illinois law governs in this matter.
As the district court correctly noted, prior to 1971, Ohio law dictated that, in accordance with the rule of lex loci delicti, the substantive law of the place of the injury controlled in tort actions. In 1971, the Ohio Supreme Court began to move away from this mechanical approach toward a case-by-case approach which balanced the state interests involved. See, e.g., Fox v. Morrison Motor Freight, Inc., 25 Ohio St.2d 193, 267 N.E.2d 405, cert. denied, 403 U.S. 931, 91 S.Ct. 2254, 29 L.Ed.2d 710 (1971); see also Moats v. Metropolitan Bank of Lima, 40 Ohio St.2d 47, 319 N.E.2d 603 (1974); Schiltz v. Meyer, 29 Ohio St.2d 169, 280 N.E.2d 925 (1972). Then, in 1984, the Ohio Supreme Court decided the case of Morgan v. Biro Mfg. Co., 15 Ohio St.3d 339, 474 N.E.2d 286 (1984), wherein the court reviewed Ohio's approach to conflict of laws questions and adopted the methodology of the Restatement of the Law of Conflicts as a guideline, noting in the process that the Restatement was reflective of the development of Ohio decisions on these matters. Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws (1971) (hereinafter referred to as Restatement).
In concluding that Illinois law governed in the instant matter, the district court relied in great part on the Ohio Supreme Court's decision in Morgan for guidance. In particular, the district court looked to the following passage from the Morgan decision:
When confronted with a choice-of-law issue in a tort action under the Restatement of the Law of Conflicts view, analysis must begin with Section 146. Pursuant to this section, a presumption is created that the law of the place of the injury controls unless another jurisdiction has a more significant relationship to the lawsuit. To determine the state with the most significant relationship, a court must then proceed to consider the general principles set forth in Section 145. The factors within this section are: (1) the place of the injury; (2) the place where the conduct causing the injury occurred; (3) the domicile, residence, nationality, place of incorporation, and place of business of the parties; (4) the place where the relationship between the parties, if any, is located; and (5) any factors under Section 6 which the court may deem relevant to the litigation. All of these factors are to be evaluated according to their relative importance to the case.
Id. at 342, 474 N.E.2d 286 (footnotes omitted). The district court then analyzed the instant matter in the manner set forth in Morgan, stating:
Analysis in this case thus begins with the presumption [under Restatement Sec. 146] that the law of Illinois, the place of the injury, controls. The next step is to determine whether Ohio has a more significant relationship to the lawsuit, using the factors contained in Section 145.
The district court then applied the factors listed in section 145 of the Restatement to the facts of this case, including a "fifth Section of 146 [which] involves consideration of several relevant factors from Section 6 which a court may deem relevant," and concluded that Illinois law governed in this matter.
Plaintiff complains that the district court improperly relied on Morgan because Morgan is a personal injury case and the instant case involves a wrongful death claim. Section 146 of the Restatement deals with choice of law questions arising in personal injury cases. Section 175 of the Restatement deals with choice of law questions which arise in an action for death. Section 146, which the Morgan court applied, reads as follows:
In an action for a personal injury, the local law of the state where the injury occurred determines the rights and liabilities of the parties, unless, with respect to the particular issue, some other state has a more significant relationship under the principles stated in Sec. 6 to the occurrence and the parties, in which event the local law of the other state will be applied.
Restatement Sec. 146. Section 175, which the plaintiff claims the district court should have applied in this action, reads as follows:
In an action for wrongful death, the local law of the state where the injury occurred determines the rights and liabilities of the parties unless, with respect to the particular issue, some other state has a more significant relationship under the principles stated in Sec. 6 to the occurrence and the parties, in which event the local law of the other state will be applied.
Restatement Sec. 175. While the plaintiff may indeed be correct in arguing that the district court began its analysis by applying the wrong section of the Restatement, his argument ignores the fact that the language in sections 146 and 175 is virtually identical, as is the rationale for each of the sections. See Restatement Sec. 175 comments a and d, Sec. 146 comment c. Therefore, there is no harm resulting from the manner in which the district court commenced its analysis. Both sections 175 and 146 of the Restatement provide the initial presumption that...
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