Malmberg v. United States

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. New York
DecidedFebruary 4, 2020
Docket5:06-cv-01042-FJS-TWD
StatusUnknown

This text of Malmberg v. United States (Malmberg v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Malmberg v. United States, (N.D.N.Y. 2020).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK ______________________________________________ CHARLES MALMBERG, Plaintiff, v. 5:06-CV-1042 (FJS/TWD) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Defendant. ______________________________________________ APPEARANCES OF COUNSEL OFFICE OF ROBERT B. NICHOLS ROBERT B. NICHOLS, ESQ. 716 Brisbane Building 403 Main Street Buffalo, New York 14203 Attorneys for Plaintiff HANCOCK ESTABROOK, LLP ALAN J. PIERCE, ESQ. 100 Madison Street, Suite 1500 Syracuse, New York 13202 Attorneys for Plaintiff OFFICE OF THE UNITED WILLIAM F. LARKIN, AUSA STATES ATTORNEY KAREN FOLSTER LESPERANCE, AUSA James Hanley U.S. Courthouse & Federal Building 100 South Clinton Street Syracuse, New York 13261-7198 Attorneys for Defendant SCULLIN, Senior Judge MEMORANDUM-DECISION AND ORDER I. BACKGROUND Plaintiff commenced this action on September 15, 2006, seeking to recover damages for injuries he sustained in November 2004 during the course of an anterior cervical disectomy and fusion procedure at the Syracuse VA Medical Center. After bench trials on liability and damages, this Court concluded that the Government was liable for Plaintiff's injuries and awarded him $4,468,859.91 in damages. See Dkt. No. 146 ("Malmberg I"). Both parties appealed various aspects of this award.

In Malmberg v. United States, 816 F.3d 185 (2d Cir. 2016) ("Malmberg II"), the Second Circuit vacated the damages award and directed this Court to reconsider whether Plaintiff should be permitted to amend the ad damnum clause in his complaint to increase the amount of damages requested and to explain its rationale for awarding $2 million in damages for Plaintiff's past and future pain and suffering. After remand, this Court denied Plaintiff's motion to increase the ad damnum clause and concluded that, in light of its decision concerning the ad damnum clause,

there [was] no reason for the Court to address how the $2.5 million award for past pain and suffering compares to awards in cases involving plaintiffs with comparable injuries because, even if the Court were to find that comparable cases warranted an increase, any such increase would be limited to a maximum of $511,320. . . . See Dkt. No. 171, Memorandum Decision and Order dated April 13, 2018, at 19 n.3 ("Malmberg III"). Both parties appealed. On appeal, both parties contested whether this Court had clearly erred in denying Plaintiff's request to increase the ad damnum from $6 million to $25 million. The Second Circuit concluded that this Court had erred and, therefore, reversed that aspect of this Court's judgment and remanded for this Court "to determine anew the damages owed to [Plaintiff], taking into account an increased ad damnum of $25 million, which fixes the ceiling on the maximum recoverable damages." See Dkt. No. 182, Mandate ("Malmberg IV"), at 6. -2- On appeal, Plaintiff also argued, and the Government agreed, that this Court had failed to explain sufficiently its award for past and future pain and suffering. See id. Therefore, the Second Circuit "vacate[d] this aspect of the damages award" and instructed this Court "to consider whether its initial pain and suffering award complies with New York law and to explain the basis for its

decision." See id. at 7. The Second Circuit also instructed this Court to "take into account, among other things, awards in comparable cases." See id. Finally, on appeal, the Government contended, and Plaintiff did not dispute, that this Court "failed to correctly offset the damages award by the amount of disability payments [Plaintiff] has received under 38 U.S.C. § 1151." See id. The Second Circuit agreed and, therefore, "vacate[d] this aspect of the damages award and direct[ed] [this] Court to offset the final award by the amount of § 1151 benefits that [Plaintiff] receives through the date of any amended judgment entered on

remand." See id. Pending before the Court are the parties' submissions addressing the issues that the Court must decide in light of the Second Circuit's August 15, 2019 Mandate, Malmberg IV, which reversed in part, vacated in part, and remanded this matter for further proceedings consistent with that Mandate.

II. DISCUSSION "'Although there is no precise rule for determining damages for pain and suffering, a trier of

fact is bound by a standard of reasonableness.'" Davis v. Yisrael, No. 16 CV 1574 (LMS), 2019 WL 2098151, *2 (S.D.N.Y. May 14, 2019) (quoting Battista v. United States, 889 F. Supp. 716, 727 (S.D.N.Y. 1995) (citing Paley v. Brust, 21 A.D.2d 758 (1st Dep't 1964))). "'[A] review of jury -3- awards and settlement amounts in recent New York cases involving comparable injuries suffered under comparable circumstances, while not binding, provides helpful guidance to the court in determining a reasonable range for the value of non-economic damages to be awarded in this case.'" Id. (quoting Robinson v. United States, 330 F. Supp. 2d 261, 295-96 (W.D.N.Y. 2004)); (citing

Marcoux v. Farm Serv. & Supplies, Inc., 290 F. Supp. 2d 457 (E.D.N.Y. 2003) (explaining that "[a]ssigning dollar amounts to pain and suffering is an inherently subjective determination") (citations omitted); Berroyer v. United States, 990 F. Supp. 2d 283, 309 (E.D.N.Y. 2014) ("The Court also recognizes that the facts of each case are different and there may be case-specific variables that reasonably lead to a higher or lower amount in damages.")). In their papers, the parties referred to more than twenty cases. The Court has reviewed all of those cases, as well as several others, to guide its decision regarding the amount of damages to

award Plaintiff. In addition, to take inflation into account, the Court has converted the awards in those cases to 2019 Dollars using the US Inflation Calculator.1 After reviewing the relevant cases, the Court has compiled a table of representative cases that present a reasonable range of awards for non-economic damages in cases in which the injuries that the plaintiffs suffered are similar to the injuries that Plaintiff suffered in this case. These cases provide helpful guidance to the Court in determining the appropriate amount of damages for past and future pain and suffering to award in this case.

1 According to this Calculator, through January 2020, the latest Consumer Price Index is 256.974 and the Inflation Rate is 2.3%. See www.usinflationcalculator.com (last visited January 28, 2020). -4- Case Name Year of Award | Injuries Award 2019 Dollars (December 2019) Saladino v. 2011; upheld by | quadriplegic (37 | $5 million (past | $5,682,807.34 Stewart & 2d Cir. 2012 year old male at | pain and (past) Stevenson Servs., time of accident) | suffering); $10 $11,365,614.68 Inc., No. 01-CV- (by time of million (future (future) 7644 (SLT) verdict, injury 11 | pain and (JMA), 2011 WL years ago and life | suffering) Cumulative rate 284476 expectancy of 24 of Inflation: (E.D.N.Y. Jan. years) 13.7% 26, 2011), aff'd sub nom Total award: Saladino y. Am. $17,048,422.02 Airlines, Inc., 500 F. App'x 69 (2d Cir. 2012) Barnhard vy. 2011 quadriplegic on appeal, reduce | $3,409,684.40 Cybex Int'l, Inc., award to $3 (past) 89 A.D.3d 1554 million (past (4th Dep't 2011) pain and suffering); $9 $10,229,053.21 million (future (future) pain and suffering) - Cumulative rate remittitur of Inflation: (maximum 13.7% amounts jury could have Total award: awarded) $13,638,737.61

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Saladino and Saladino v. American Airlines
500 F. App'x 69 (Second Circuit, 2012)
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889 F. Supp. 716 (S.D. New York, 1995)
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Paley v. Brust
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56 A.D.2d 1144 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2008)
Barnhard v. Cybex International, Inc.
89 A.D.3d 1554 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2011)
Braun v. Ahmed
127 A.D.2d 418 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1987)
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Berroyer v. United States
990 F. Supp. 2d 283 (E.D. New York, 2014)

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Bluebook (online)
Malmberg v. United States, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/malmberg-v-united-states-nynd-2020.