Lashin v. Corcoran

• Decision Date: 23 June 1959
• Citation: 152 A.2d 639,146 Conn. 512
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: Fannie LASHIN et al. v. Thomas F. CORCORAN et al. Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut

Page 639

152 A.2d 639

146 Conn. 512

Fannie LASHIN et al. v. Thomas F. CORCORAN et al.

Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut.

June 23, 1959.

George D. Stoughton, Hartford, with whom was DeLancey Pelgrift, Hartford, for the appellants (defendants).

Jocob H. Channin, Hartford, with whom was Edward S. Ludorf, Tariffville, for the appellees (plaintiffs).

Before BALDWIN, KING, MURPHY, MELLITZ and SHEA, JJ.

MELLITZ, Associate Justice.

The plaintiffs, husband and wife, brought this action to recover damages for injuries received by the wife, hereinafter referred to as the plaintiff, when she was struck by an automobile operated by the named defendant. The trial court concluded that the plaintiff sustained permanent injuries as a result of that defendant's negligent operation of his car and was herself free from contributory negligence. The facts found amply support these conclusions, and no corrections which will advantage the defendants may be made in the finding.

The only claimed error requiring discussion is the contention that the court improperly included loss of earning capacity as an element in the damages awarded the plaintiff. Prior to the accident, she had for many years been a partner in a grocery store with her husband and son. She worked in the store full time, averaging between forty and forty-four hours a week. She performed all the duties of a grocery clerk, including waiting on trade and acting as a cashier. She had had many years of experience in such work. As a result of her injuries, she was unable to perform any of her duties in the store from November 14, 1955, to February 4, 1957. Since then, she has been able to work only part time, and she will be able to work only on a part-time basis in the future. During the period she was unable to work in the store, her son and husband worked longer hours. She drew $60 a week against her share of the partnership profits both before and after the accident, and at the end of each year the partnership profits were divided, each partner receiving a one-third share. The market value of the services the plaintiff performed in the store was $52 a week for a forty-hour week. In awarding damages to her, the court included an award for her inability to carry on her occupation and for loss of earning capacity in the past and in the future. The claim of the defendants is that the court erred in including this element in the damages, because the plaintiff had never received wages for her work and she continued to draw the same amount from her share of the profits from the business, and to receive the same share of the profits, as before the accident. No authorities are cited to support this claim.

One who has been injured through another's fault and whose earning capacity has been impaired by the injury is entitled to recover damages for the loss sustained by reason of such impairment. Comstock v. Connecticut Ry. & Lighting Co., 77 Conn. 65, 68, 58 A. 465. The essential question is whether the plaintiff's capacity to earn was hurt. If it was, she is entitled to damages for any loss, past or future, attributable with reasonable probability to the impairment in her earning capacity. Silverman v. Springfield Advertising Co., 120 Conn. 55, 58, 179 A. 98; Hayes v. Morris & Co., 98 Conn. 603, 607, 119 A. 901; Restatement, 4 Torts § 924, comments c, d. It is not of controlling significance that the plaintiff was receiving no wages, as such, for her services at the time of the injury. Federman v. City of Stamford, 118 Conn. 427, 431, 172 A. 853. Recovery of damages for loss of earning capacity is not merely a recovery for wages lost. Salary or wages earned at the...