Debbis v. Hertz Corporation

• Decision Date: 01 June 1967
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 17609.
• Citation: 269 F. Supp. 671
• Parties: Donna Fae DEBBIS, Administratrix of the Estate of James A. Debbis, Deceased, for her benefit as surviving widow and for the benefit of Leroy Patterson and Rickey Patterson, surviving infant dependent stepsons, and Tammy S. Debbis and Mary Z. Debbis, surviving infant dependent daughters, of James A. Debbis, Deceased, and also for the benefit of the Estate v. The HERTZ CORPORATION, a body corporate of Delaware.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

269 F. Supp. 671

Donna Fae DEBBIS, Administratrix of the Estate of James A. Debbis, Deceased, for her benefit as surviving widow and for the benefit of Leroy Patterson and Rickey Patterson, surviving infant dependent stepsons, and Tammy S. Debbis and Mary Z. Debbis, surviving infant dependent daughters, of James A. Debbis, Deceased, and also for the benefit of the Estate v. The HERTZ CORPORATION, a body corporate of Delaware.

Civ. No. 17609.

United States District Court D. Maryland.

June 1, 1967.

Sol J. Friedman, George W. White, Jr., and Buckmaster, White, Mindel & Clarke, Baltimore, Md., for plaintiffs.

Paul M. Higinbothom, Baltimore, Md., for defendant.

FRANK A. KAUFMAN, District Judge.

This suit is brought by Donna Fae Debbis, a Maryland resident, as administratrix of the estate of James A. Debbis, deceased. Mrs. Debbis, suing for her own benefit as widow, and for the benefit of the two infant stepsons and two infant daughters of the deceased, claims loss of support and services and seeks damages therefor in the amount of $175,000. Mrs. Debbis also asks damages in the amount of $25,000 for pain and suffering of her husband between the times of his injury and his death, for damages to his automobile, and for funeral and medical expenses.

Plaintiff alleges that on September 3, 1965 her husband was operating his automobile on a public highway near Charles Town, West Virginia; that he stopped for traffic near the entrance to Shenandoah Downs Race Track; that the automobile at the wheel of which he was seated was struck from the rear by a second automobile owned by defendant and rented by it on September 3, 1965 to one Bobby Staton; that the rental agreement was entered into at defendant's place of business in Arlington, Virginia; that the automobile was operated, with Staton's permission and with Staton sitting in the right front seat, by one Yurisic; and that plaintiff's husband subsequently died on September 7, 1965 from injuries sustained in the September 3rd accident. The complaint also states that Yurisic claimed at the time of the collision that the brakes of the rented vehicle were defective. Plaintiff contends that defendant as lessor breached an implied warranty of fitness of the automobile and also that defendant negligently rented the automobile with the brakes in an improper condition.

The complaint does not disclose where Mr. Debbis died or in what state letters of administration were issued to his widow. However, during oral argument, the Court was informed that Mr. Debbis died in a hospital in Maryland and that letters were issued to Mrs. Debbis in Maryland. Memoranda and oral argument have also disclosed that Staton and Yurisic are, respectively, residents of Arlington and Falls Church, Virginia.

Defendant has moved to dismiss the complaint on the grounds that: (1) the case is governed by the laws of Virginia which do not permit any damages to be awarded to the stepsons, or any recovery for funeral or medical expenses, and which limit damages below the amounts sought by plaintiff in this case; (2) no recovery is possible for breach of an implied warranty of fitness because of lack of privity of contract; and (3) this suit should have been brought in Federal District Court in Virginia (presumably for the Eastern District of Virginia) rather than in this Court, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391(f). Plaintiff contends that West Virginia law applies and that it permits recovery for funeral and medical expenses. Plaintiff concedes that the stepsons may not recover under either the Virginia or West Virginia wrongful death statutes. Defendant, replying, says that if West Virginia law applies, it does not permit plaintiff, a Maryland administratrix, to bring this suit in this Court.

In this diversity case this Court looks to the conflict of laws rules prevailing in Maryland. Klaxon Co. v. Stentor Electric Mfg. Co., 313 U.S. 487, 61 S.Ct. 1020, 85 L.Ed. 1477 (1941). The Maryland conflicts rule in wrongful death cases is set forth in Section 2 of Article 67 of the Maryland Code, which states:

In any action instituted in the courts of this State where it shall appear that the death of a person has been caused by the wrongful act, neglect or default of a vessel or of another person, firm or corporation, and such wrongful act, neglect, or default shall have occurred outside of the State of Maryland, whether in another state, the District of Columbia or territory of the United States, the courts of this State shall apply the law of such other state, District of Columbia or territory of the United States, to the facts of the particular case, as though such foreign law were the law of this State, provided, however, that the rules of pleading and procedure effective in the court of this State in which the action is pending govern and be so applied as to give effect to the rights and obligations created by and existing under the laws of the foreign jurisdiction in which the wrongful act, neglect or default occurred; * * *. 6 Md.Ann. Code art. 67, § 2 (1967 Replacement Vol.) Emphasis added

There apparently are no Maryland or other reported opinions applying Section 2 to a multi-state situation such as exists in this case, in which the alleged negligent action or omission of defendant with regard to the brakes of the rented car occurred in Virginia, the accident and injury took place in West Virginia and death followed in Maryland. However, the general rule is that the law of the state where the injury resulting in death occurred determines the rights and liabilities of the parties in an action for wrongful death. Betts v. Southern Ry. Co., 71 F.2d 787, 789 (4th Cir. 1934); King v. Cooper Motor Lines, 142 F.Supp. 405 (D.Md.1956); Kaufmann v. Service Trucking Co., 139 F. Supp. 1 (D.Md.1956). See also, Tramontana v. S.A. Empresa, 121 U.S.App. D.C. 338, 350 F.2d 468, 473-475 (1965); Huber v. Baltimore & Ohio R. R. Co., 241 F.Supp. 646 (D.Md.1965); State of Maryland ex rel. Thompson v. Eis Automotive Corp., 145 F.Supp. 444 (D.Conn. 1956); Restatement of Conflict of Laws §§ 377 and 391. (1934); Annot., 77 A.L.R.2d 1266, 1273, 1287 (1961); H. Goodrich, Conflict of Laws 263-64 (3d ed. 1949).

In White v. King, 244 Md. 348, 223 A.2d 763 (1966), the Court of Appeals of Maryland considered a case in which residents of Prince George's County, Maryland, sued another resident of the same county, in the Circuit Court of that county, for injuries sustained in Michigan when the defendant, as the host-driver of the automobile in which plaintiffs therein were riding as guests, apparently fell asleep at the wheel. The Maryland trial court applied Michigan law and directed a verdict for the defendant at the conclusion of the plaintiffs' case on the grounds that under the Michigan Guest Statute there was not sufficient evidence of gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct of defendant to enable the case to go to the jury. After noting that the doctrine of lex loci delicti has been applied in the past by the Court of Appeals of Maryland, that that doctrine has been criticized by eminent authorities in the field of conflict of laws, that a new rule has been proposed in Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws § 379 (Tent. Draft No. 9, 1964) and that the rule or modifications thereof have been adopted by the courts of some of the states, Judge Oppenheimer, speaking for the Court of Appeals of Maryland, held under the facts of the case that Michigan law was applicable and affirmed the decision of the trial court. See also, Earl v. Anchor Pontiac Buick, Inc., 229 A.2d 412 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, filed May 12, 1967).

The Restatement of Conflict of Laws § 391, comment b at 479 (1934), currently provides that:

b. It is the law of the place of wrong (see § 377) and not that of the place where the defendant's conduct occurs or the place of death, which governs the right.

Section 377 of the Restatement defines the place of wrong as the "state where the last event necessary to make an actor liable for an alleged tort takes place." A revision of these rules has been proposed in Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws § 391 (Tent. Draft No. 9, 1964). That suggested redraft 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 some other state has a more significant relationship with the occurrence and the parties as to the particular issue involved, in which event the local law of the latter state will govern.

Comment f under the proposed new Section 391 states:

On rare occasions, conduct and injury will occur in different states. In such instances, the local law of the state of injury will usually govern. Situations will, however, arise when the state where the conduct occurred has the most significant relationship with the parties and with the occurrence and when therefore this state provides the governing law. Such situations, however, constitute an exception to the general rule.

* * * * * *

On rare occasions when conduct and injury occur in different states, a state which is neither the state of conduct nor of injury may nevertheless be the state which has the most significant relationship with the occurrence and the parties and which is therefore the state of the governing law.

In this case, Maryland may well have the most significant relationship with the parties, since the widow and children of the decedent are residents of the State of Maryland and since the defendant is a corporation which is admittedly qualified to do business in Virginia and Maryland, and though the record does not so affirmatively disclose, presumably also is qualified in West Virginia. However, Section 2 of Article 67 of the Maryland Code, and the recent pronouncements of Maryland's highest Court in the White and Earl cases make it clear that neither the Maryland Wrongful Death Act nor Maryland's substantive law principles of...