Haupt v. Yale Rubber Co.

• Decision Date: 10 December 1970
• Docket Number: Docket No. 8377,No. 2,2
• Citation: 29 Mich.App. 225,185 N.W.2d 161
• Parties: Barbara HAUPT, Administratrix of the Estate of Brent Lee Haupt, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. YALE RUBBER CO. and Harold Frederick Bartels, Defendants-Appellants
• Court: Court of Appeal of Michigan — District of US

Page 161

185 N.W.2d 161

29 Mich.App. 225

Barbara HAUPT, Administratrix of the Estate of Brent Lee

Haupt, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. YALE RUBBER CO. and Harold Frederick Bartels, Defendants-Appellants.

Docket No. 8377.

Court of Appeals of Michigan, Division No. 2.

Dec. 10, 1970.

Released for Publication April 2, 1971.

Milton W. Bush, Bush, Luce, Henderson & Black, Port Huron, for defendants-appellants.

Atkins, Drillock & Keyes, Marlette, for plaintiff-appellee.

before BRONSON, P.J., and FITZGERALD and CHURCHILL, ^* JJ.

BRONSON, Presiding Judge.

On May 25, 1967, seven-year-old Brent Lee Haupt was struck and instantly killed by an automobile driven by Harold Bartels and owned by Yale Rubber Company. Suit was commenced on April 2, 1968, under the Michigan wrongful death act. M.C.L.A. § 600.2922 (Stat.Ann.1970 Cum.Supp. § 27A.2922). On September 29, 1969, defendants filed an amended answer admitting negligence and asking the court to determine the proper amount of damages.

Trial was held without a jury on October 1, 1969, for the purpose of determining the amount of damages. The trial judge, after hearing testimony on the issue of damages, awarded plaintiff a judgment in the amount of $40,000 for the following reasons:

'Now the plaintiff in this case so far as the damages are concerned must prove her damages by a preponderance of the evidence. The testimony in this case is virtually undisputed. The evidence indicates that one of the heirs of Brent Lee Haupt, deceased, is the mother, and also three surviving brothers. The evidence also indicates that the mother in this case has no particular earning power or great skill and the testimony indicates she would have expected some help from Brent Lee Haupt. Now there is also some evidence of the effect on Brian Haupt and the other children as the result of this unfortunate death. As in all cases of this kind it is difficult for the court or for a jury to evaluate the damages suffered by the plaintiffs and the other heirs in this particular type of case.

'Obviously, no death can be determined in an exact amount of money nor can a child's life be brought back or can there be satisfaction as to any amount of money, but the law does impose a duty upon the court to use its own best judgment in this particular case as to the amount of pecuniary loss that the heirs have suffered.

'In this case taking into consideration all of the elements of damages announced in the Wycko v. Gnodtke case in 361 Mich page 331 (105 N.W.2d 118) and affirmed in Currie v. Fiting, 375 Mich. 440 (134 N.W.2d 611), the court in this case will render a verdict in favor of the plaintiff estate in the amount of forty thousand dollars, which includes the interest to date, the funeral bill and costs, also the future damages formula. Also in this case the plaintiff is awarded costs in this matter. So the judgment will be $40,000 for the plaintiff, plus costs'.

On appeal, defendants argue that the factors considered by the trial judge in awarding the plaintiff a $40,000 judgment are inconsistent with the principles set forth in Breckon v. Franklin Fuel Company (1970), 383 Mich. 251, 174 N.W.2d 836.

The Breckon decision clearly holds that, aside from the statutorily provided recovery for conscious pain and suffering, if any, as well as damages for reasonable medical, hospital, funeral, and burial expenses for which the estate is liable, recovery under the wrongful death act is limited to damages for 'pecuniary injury' or 'pecuniary loss'. Under the Breckon decision, pecuniary loss does Not include loss of companionship nor can damages be awarded on the basis of the grief endured by the surviving dependents.

In the instant case, with the exception of funeral expenses, the record is devoid of specific proofs as to the pecuniary loss suffered as the result of the decedent's death. See Staal v. Grand Rapids & I.R. Co. (1885), 57 Mich. 239, 245, 23 N.W. 795. This factor, coupled with the trial court's reference to the effect which the decedent's death had on the surviving children, leaves little doubt...