Bryant v. NYC HEALTH & HOSPS

Decision Date01 July 1999
CourtNew York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
PartiesTROY BRYANT, as Administrator of the Estate of DOROTHY D. ROBERTS, Deceased, Respondent, v. NEW YORK CITY HEALTH AND HOSPITALS CORPORATION, Appellant. KURT DEPRADINE, an Infant, by His Mother and Natural Guardian, ALLISON DEPRADINE, et al., Respondents, v. NEW YORK CITY HEALTH & HOSPITALS CORPORATION, Appellant.

Michael D. Hess, Corporation Counsel of New York City (Fay Leoussis, Pamela Seider Dolgow, Christina M. White and John Hogrogian of counsel), for appellant in the first above-entitled action.

Kramer, Dillof, Tessel, Duffy & Moore, New York City (Matthew Gaier, Norman Bard and Judith A. Livingston of counsel), for respondent in the first above-entitled action.

Fiedelman & McGaw, Jericho (Frank V. Kelly, Andrew Zajac, Carol R. Finocchio, Elizabeth Anne Bannon and Dawn C. DeSimone of counsel), and Edward A. Hayes for Defense Association of New York, Inc., amicus curiae in the first-above entitled action.

Aaronson Rappaport Feinstein & Deutsch, L. L. P., New York City (Mark J. Aaronson, Steven C. Mandell and Jennifer E. Bienstock of counsel), for FOJP Service Corporation and another, amici curiae in the first above-entitled action. Schneider, Kleinick, Weitz, Damashek & Shoot, New York City (Brian J. Shoot, Diane Welch Bando and Gary Pillersdorf of counsel), for New York State Trial Lawyers Association, amicus curiae in the first above-entitled action.

Michael D. Hess, Corporation Counsel of New York City (Fay Leoussis, Larry A. Sonnenshein, Christina White and Mordecai Newman of counsel), for appellant in the second above-entitled action.

Kramer, Dillof, Tessel, Duffy & Moore, New York City (Matthew Gaier, Norman Bard and Thomas A. Moore of counsel), for respondents in the second above-entitled action.

Judges BELLACOSA, SMITH, LEVINE, CIPARICK, WESLEY and ROSENBLATT concur.

OPINION OF THE COURT

Chief Judge KAYE.

As part of a tort reform package adopted in 1985 and 1986, the Legislature enacted structured judgment statutes, requiring the periodic payment over time of personal injury awards of more than $250,000 for losses to be incurred in the future. To this end, CPLR article 50-A (§§ 5031-5039, applicable to medical and dental malpractice actions) and CPLR article 50-B (§§ 5041-5049, applicable to personal injury, property damage and wrongful death actions) direct that—after a lump-sum payment consisting of damages awarded for past injuries, attorneys' fees and the first $250,000 of future damages—"the court shall enter a judgment for the amount of the present value of an annuity contract that will provide for the payment of the remaining amounts of future damages in periodic installments. * * * Such annuity contract shall provide for the payment of the annual payments of such remaining future damages over the period of time determined pursuant to this subdivision" (CPLR 5031 [e]; 5041 [e]).

The cases now before us present three nuts-and-bolts questions relating to the calculation of damages. First, we are asked whether the proper basis for the "annual payments" is the future, or present, value of the remaining future damages award. Because the Legislature intended that plaintiffs be compensated for the full amount of their damages, we conclude—as did the Appellate Division—that it is the undiscounted future value of the award that is payable over time. We are asked, second, whether the 4% statutory additur is to be included in the damage award prior to determining attorneys' fees, and third, whether plaintiff's recovery should be offset by Social Security survivor benefits. We hold that the additur was properly included in calculating attorneys' fees, but that the survivor benefits should have been offset against the award.

The Bryant Case

Plaintiff Troy Bryant, as administrator of the estate of Dorothy D. Roberts, brought this medical malpractice and wrongful death action against defendant New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation in connection with Roberts' treatment and death after undergoing a cesarean section and giving birth to a daughter. The jury returned a verdict in plaintiff's favor, totaling $21,150,000: $5,100,000 for pain and suffering, $4,000,000 for past loss of guidance, $50,000 for loss of earnings to date, $9,000,000 for future loss of maternal guidance for 30 years, $900,000 for future loss of household services for 23 years, and $2,100,000 for future loss of earnings over a 37-year period. Supreme Court granted defendant's motion to set aside the verdict as excessive unless plaintiff agreed—which he did—to reduce damages to $3,968,333: $1,000,000 for pain and suffering, $360,000 for loss of guidance to date, $50,000 for loss of earnings to date, $1,800,000 for loss of future guidance, $450,000 for loss of household services and $308,333 for loss of future earnings.

Plaintiff and defendant, however, proposed markedly different judgments, centering on the three questions now before us. After Supreme Court determined that plaintiff's methodology was correct, and that there should be no offset for monthly Social Security survivor benefits payable to decedent's daughter, defendant appealed. Although the Appellate Division affirmed the trial court on the law questions relating to the damages calculation, it conditioned judgment on plaintiff's stipulation to a further reduction for specified past losses and future lost parental guidance. Again, plaintiff agreed to the reduction, and an amended judgment was entered.

The Depradine Case

Plaintiff Kurt Depradine sustained severe, permanent brain damage as a result of a City hospital's negligence during his birth. The jury awarded him a total of $47,418,603: $589,723 for cost of health aid until age 21 for 11.5 years, $4,076,280 for cost of therapies for 61 years, $3,944,600 for impairment of earning capability for 43 years, $23,808,000 for custodial care from age 21, $2,500,000 for pain and suffering until the date of the verdict, and $12,500,000 for future pain and suffering for 61 years. On defendant's application, Supreme Court held that each element of the damages award was "grossly excessive" and granted a new trial unless plaintiff stipulated to a reduced award of $9,109,692, consisting of $452,088 for cost of health aid until age 21, $1,111,604 for cost of therapies, $946,000 for impairment of earning capacity, $3,600,000 for custodial care from age 21, $1,000,000 for past pain and suffering and $2,000,000 for future pain and suffering.

After plaintiff consented to the reductions, defendant sought to have the future damage award annuity contract determined by the present value of those damages, and to exclude the 4% additur from the damages calculation. Plaintiff, by contrast, based the annual payments on future damages, undiscounted, and included the 4% statutory additur in his proposed judgment. Supreme Court upheld plaintiff's calculations, and defendant appealed. Citing its decision in Bryant, the Appellate Division affirmed, concluding that the court properly structured the judgment pursuant to CPLR 5031 (e). In each case, this Court granted defendant leave to appeal.

The Structured Judgment Statutes

Prior to the enactment of CPLR articles 50-A and 50-B, future damage awards were discounted to present value and payable at once, requiring defendants to turn over money immediately and leaving plaintiffs free to enjoy the fruits of those dollars. Responding to a "malpractice crisis" (see, Governor's Program Mem, 1985 NY Legis Ann, at 131), the Legislature in 1985 passed CPLR article 50-A which, in medical and dental malpractice actions, requires periodic payments of future awards as opposed to the immediate lump-sum payment of a discounted award. Article 50-B, the counterpart for personal injury, property damage and wrongful death actions, followed in 1986.

The dual purpose behind this legislation was to "moderate the cost of medical malpractice premiums, while assuring adequate and fair compensation for injured persons" (Governor's Program Mem, 1985 NY Legis Ann, at 132; see also, Schultz v Harrison Radiator Div. Gen. Motors Corp., 90 NY2d 311, 317-318

). By providing that injured parties receive future damage awards in periodic installments paid over time the Legislature sought to guarantee plaintiffs "that compensation for future health care costs, lost earnings and other needs [would] be available to meet those expenses as they [arose]" (Governor's Program Mem, 1985 NY Legis Ann, at 132). Concomitantly, defendants would benefit because "paying a judgment in periodic installments reduces the overall cost of the judgment by permitting the insurer to retain and invest the balance of the award before the installments come due [and] additional savings [would] result from relieving the defendant from the obligation to make payments toward the plaintiff's future health care and other non-economic expenses in the event of the plaintiff's death" (id., at 132; see also, CPLR 5035 [a]; 5045 [a]).1

The structured judgment provisions have deservedly been labeled "`circuitous,' `vexing,' as `every Judge's nightmare,' and `[a]t best * * * ambiguous [which] can lead to inexplicable results'" (Bermeo v Atakent, 241 AD2d 235, 242 [citations omitted]). Awards for past damages and attorneys' fees, as well as the first $250,000 of awards for future damages, are immediately payable in a lump sum (CPLR 5031 [b], [c]; 5041 [b], [c]).2 Defendant is then required to purchase an annuity contract that will "provide for the payment of the annual payments of such remaining future damages" (CPLR 5031 [e]; 5041 [e]). Further, the "annual payment for the first year shall be calculated by dividing the remaining amount of future damages by the number of years over which such payments shall be made and the payment due in each succeeding year shall be computed by adding four percent to the previous...

To continue reading

Request your trial
29 cases
  • Saint v. U.S.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York
    • 23 Abril 2007
    ...$328,314 must be deducted the social security disability benefits received by the plaintiff. Bryant v. New York Health & Hospitals Corp., 93 N.Y.2d 592, 695 N.Y.S.2d 39, 716 N.E.2d 1084 (1999). At the trial Eve Saint testified that her son receives monthly social security disability benefit......
  • Okrayaents v. Metropolitan Transportation Authority
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York
    • 21 Mayo 2008
    ...under § 4545(c). See, e.g., Turnbull v. USAir, Inc., 133 F.3d 184, 187, 189(2d Cir.1998); Bryant v. New York City Health & Hosps. Corp., 93 N.Y.2d 592, 609, 695 N.Y.S.2d 39, 716 N.E.2d 1084 (1999). At his deposition, Mr. Okraynets testified that he is currently receiving approximately $1200......
  • Schuff v. AT Klemens & Son
    • United States
    • Montana Supreme Court
    • 27 Diciembre 2000
    ...and therefore qualify, under subsection (1), as a potential collateral source. See, e.g., Bryant v. New York City Health & Hosps. Corp. (1999), 93 N.Y.2d 592, 695 N.Y.S.2d 39, 716 N.E.2d 1084, 1092. Our inquiry does not end there, ¶ 114 We must next turn to the subparts of subsection (1), u......
  • In re September 11 Litigation, 21 MC 101 (AKH).
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York
    • 13 Agosto 2009
    ..."with reasonable certainty." See id. at 85-86, 637 N.Y.S.2d 670, 661 N.E.2d 142; see also Bryant v. N.Y.C. Health & Hosps. Corp., 93 N.Y.2d 592, 605-06, 695 N.Y.S.2d 39, 716 N.E.2d 1084 (1999). Finally, in 1986, the legislature enacted § 4545(c), which extended the abrogation of the common ......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT