Medd v. Westcott

32 F.R.D. 25, 6 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 501, 1963 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10457
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Iowa
DecidedJanuary 10, 1963
DocketNo. 62-C-17 (960)
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 32 F.R.D. 25 (Medd v. Westcott) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Medd v. Westcott, 32 F.R.D. 25, 6 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 501, 1963 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10457 (N.D. Iowa 1963).

Opinion

McMANUS, Chief Judge.

This matter is before the court upon defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Division III of plaintiffs’ Complaint, filed June 23, 1962, and upon Vera Tackabury’s Motion to Intervene, filed November 13, 1962.

From the record it appears that on-November 15, 1961, this action was filed by the plaintiffs in the District Court of Iowa, in and for Black Hawk County at Waterloo, Iowa, and removed to this-court by defendant on November 28, 1961. Plaintiffs, citizens of Iowa, are seeking damages from the defendant, a-citizen of New York, as the result of personal injuries and property damage suffered in a motor vehicle collision between a car driven by defendant Louise Westcott and a car driven by minor plaintiff, John Medd, and owned by plaintiff, Elta Medd. The collision occurred on August 11, 1961, on U. S. Highway 30 near the intersection of U. S. Highways. 30 and 218 in Benton County, Iowa. Passengers in the Medd car were plaintiffs Elta Medd, Ronald Medd and Rose Medd. Rose Medd, now deceased, was the wife of plaintiff Elta Medd. At the time of the filing of this action, Rose Medd was a party plaintiff, but because of her death on December 23, 1961, her administrator, Roger Medd, was subsequently substituted as a party plaintiff. Vera Tackabury, who seeks to intervene, was a passenger in defendant Westcott’s car.

Plaintiffs’ Petition (complaint) contains six Divisions. Division I, as amended, seeks damages to her estate in the sum of $50,000.00 for the wrongful! injury and death of Rose Medd, including the loss of her services as both a wife and mother. In Division II, plaintiff Elta Medd seeks damages in the sum of $5,450.00 for his personal injury and property damage. In Division III, plaintiff Elta Medd seeks damages in the sum of $15,000.00 for loss of “aid, services, love and affection, society, companionship and consortium” as a result of his wife Rose Medd’s personal injuries. In [27]*27Division IV, plaintiff Ronald Medd seeks damages in the sum of $2,500.00 for personal injuries. In Division V, plaintiff John Medd, by Elta Medd, his father and next friend, seeks damages in the sum of $2,000.00 for personal injuries. In Division VI, plaintiff Elta Medd seeks damages in the sum of $500.00 for medical and hospital care of minor plaintiff, John Medd, and for loss of future earnings of said minor during his minority.

MOTION TO DISMISS DIVISION III

By her Motion, defendant seeks to dismiss Division III, plaintiff Elta Medd’s claim for loss of consortium, on the ground that said Division fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

The court FINDS that Rose Medd, deceased wife of plaintiff Elta Medd, lived four months and twelve days after the collision. The central question raised by the Motion is: Is plaintiff husband, under the circumstances of the case, entitled to damages for loss of consortium ?

In administering diversity jurisdiction, a federal trial court must apply the law of the state where the tort occurred in identifying items of injury or loss which may be recovered as damages. Lebeck v. William A. Jarvis, Inc., 250 F.2d 285, 3 Cir.; Truitt v. Gaines, D.C., 199 F.Supp. 143; Aetna Insurance Company v. Barnett Brothers, Inc., 289 F.2d 30, 8 Cir.

§ 613.11 Code of Iowa 1958, I.C.A., after eliminating disabilities or restrictions of women to bring actions for damages because of wrongful injuries or death, goes on to provide:

“In addition she, or her administrator for her estate, may recover for physician’s services, nursing and hospital expense, and the value of her services as wife, or mother, or both, as the case may be, in such sum as the jury deems proper; provided, however, recovery for these elements of damage may not be had by the husband, as such, of any woman who, or whose administrator, is entitled to recover same.”

Defendant contends that by virtue of this section, since Rose Medd’s administrator in Division I, as amended, is seeking damages for the loss of her services as both a wife and mother, the claim of her husband in Division III is now barred and should be dismissed.

This court has been unable to find a case in which the Supreme Court of Iowa has ruled directly on this question where a deceased spouse survived injuries for more than a few minutes, hours or days. See Lampe v. Lagomarcino-Grupe Company, 251 Iowa 204, 100 N.W.2d 1 (minutes); Lewis v. Maddy, 187 Iowa 603, 174 N.W. 346 (one hour); Lane v. Steiniger, 174 Iowa 317, 156 N.W. 375 (several hours); Mowry v. Chaney, 43 Iowa 609 (three days). (In these cases, the Iowa court does appear to be committed to the rule that damages for loss of consortium must stop with the period of the deceased spouse’s existence, which in the case at bar, at most would be a period of four months and twelve days.)

It might well be said that the law in Iowa is somewhat in doubt on this question. It is nevertheless the duty of this court to decide the controversy between the parties. Foxbilt, Inc. v. Citizens Insurance Company of N. J., D.C., 128 F.Supp. 594, and endeavor to determine what the Supreme Court of Iowa would declare the Iowa law to be were this case before it. Village of Brooten v. Cudahy Packing Company, 291 F.2d 284, 8 Cir.; Citizens Insurance Company v. Foxbilt, Inc., 226 F.2d 641, 8 Cir. What this court may decide is but a forecast, not a determination of Iowa law. Foxbilt v. Citizens Insurance Company of N. J., supra.

In Lampe v. Lagomarcino-Grupe Company, supra, the Iowa court, quoting extensively from the earlier cases, leaves this court with the impression that if confronted with the case at bar, it would hold that the plaintiff Elta Medd has an [28]*28independent action not eliminated by § 613.11, for the loss of the deceased wife’s “love and affection, society, companionship and consortium” for the period of four months and twelve days elapsing between injury and death. This court cannot predict that the Iowa court would call such a period of time “inconsiderable” or “nominal.” See also 21 A.L.R. 1523 and 41 C.J.S. Husband and Wife § 401c(5) p. 899. It is therefore

ORDERED

That defendant’s Motion to Dismiss is overruled. The words “aid, services,” in line 4 of paragraph 3, Division III of the Petition (complaint) are stricken.

MOTION TO INTERVENE

On November 13, 1962, Vera Tackabury, passenger in defendant’s car, filed a Motion for leave to intervene as a defendant in this action in order to assert her claim against plaintiffs, Elta Medd and John Medd, for damages to her person and property in the sum of $10,051.15 resulting from the collision. Permission to intervene is sought under Rule 24(b) (2), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the pertinent portions of which are as follows:

“(b) Permissive Intervention.

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Bluebook (online)
32 F.R.D. 25, 6 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 501, 1963 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10457, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/medd-v-westcott-iand-1963.