Winter v. Pennsylvania Railroad

68 A.2d 513, 45 Del. 108, 6 Terry 108, 1949 Del. Super. LEXIS 63
CourtSuperior Court of Delaware
DecidedSeptember 20, 1949
Docket291
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 68 A.2d 513 (Winter v. Pennsylvania Railroad) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Winter v. Pennsylvania Railroad, 68 A.2d 513, 45 Del. 108, 6 Terry 108, 1949 Del. Super. LEXIS 63 (Del. Ct. App. 1949).

Opinion

*110 Pearson, Judge.

Motion for summary judgment. Defendant moves for judgment in its favor upon that part of plaintiff’s amended complaint which relates to plaintiff’s inability to follow his secondary occupation of pianist and organist as a result of the injury alleged to have occurred to him. Defendant says “that it appears from the said Amended Complaint and from plaintiff’s answer to defendant’s Interrogatory No. 12, that the said plaintiff seeks damages with respect to his secondary occupation, which by their nature are not recoverable as a matter of law.” The portion of the amended complaint referred to reads as follows:

“9. Plaintiff’s primary occupation is that of salesman and his secondary or subordinate occupation or avocation is that of a professional pianist and organist, in which secondary occupation he has great skill and many years of experience and training. Plaintiff has been accustomed to earn at such secondary occupation sub-stanial sums of money each year, to-wit, upwards of $1500 annually. The crushing of the middle finger of his left hand as aforesaid, the loss of function thereof, the apparent permanency of such condition, and the continuing pain incident to any attempted use of such finger, has continuously since the accident and will hereafter continuously and permanently disable the plaintiff from following such secondary occupation of pianist and organist.”

Interrogatory No. 12 and plaintiff’s answer referred to read thus:

*111 (Question) “ ‘What was your income, in money or money’s worth, from playing with organ and piano in the following years: (a) 1942. (b) 1943. (c) 1944. (d) 1945. (e) 1946.’ ”

(Answer) “ ‘Plaintiff received in the form of free railroad and bus trips, hotel accommodations and meals, and in the form of lowered initiation fees and membership dues from various fraternal and civic organizations, average benefits of approximately $500.00 in each of the years 1942 through 1946, directly attributable to his ability as an organist and pianist and a consequent demand of fraternal and civic organizations for his services in this capacity’. ”

Defendant argues that it appears from plaintiff’s answer to the interrogatory that the alleged injury to plaintiff’s finger has not resulted in any pecuniary loss; that it is evident that plaintiff is seeking compensation for a loss or diminution of opportunities to attend certain functions of fraternal and civic organizations which he believed he might otherwise have been able to attend at a reduced cost; and that there is no question of loss of earnings or of inability to pursue the occupation or calling from which the plaintiff derives his livelihood. The argument is unavailing. Plaintiff is not limited in his claim for damages to loss of earnings from his primary occupation. He may further claim for loss of earnings from any number of occupations in which he was engaged. Nor are “earnings” limited to monetary sums. They may be in any form so long as they have monetary value. Certainly, railroad and bus trips, hotel accommodations, meals, initiation fees and membership dues have monetary value. That earnings were paid in forms of entertainment or recreation furnishes no valid objection. Defendant’s motion for a summary judgment must be denied.

Motion to amend complaint. Plaintiff moves to add the following new paragraph to his amended complaint:

*112 “9 (a) Plaintiff further says that in said avocation or accomplishment as a pianist and organist he has been accustomed for many years to render both public and private performances on said instruments, without pecuniary reward but from which he has been accustomed to derive great mental and spiritual comfort and enjoyment, of which such comfort and enjoyment he is now wholly deprived, and will be permanently deprived as aforesaid.”

In objecting to the amendment, defendant urges that it consists of matter which is redundant and immaterial and that it is not a proper item of special damages. Plaintiff apparently concedes that the purpose of the amendment is to assert special damages. It is obvious that many permanent injuries for which actions have been brought in the past have resulted in deprivation of “mental and spiritual comfort and enjoyment” of one sort or another, in varying degrees. Notwithstanding this, such deprivation has not of itself been recognized in earlier Delaware cases as a separate subject of speciál damages. Of course, damages are recoverable for pain and suffering and for permanent injuries. If plaintiff establishes that his finger is permanently impaired, he will be entitled to recover a reasonable sum to compensate him for the impairment or disability. In evaluating the degree of impairment and in assessing damages, the jury may take into consideration all of the activities — business, pleasure and otherwise — which the impairment impedes or prevents. However, to direct the jury to allow, in addition, special damages for deprivation of pleasure would seem to me an unwarranted change in our law of damages as established by long practice. Leave to file the proposed amendment will, therefore, be denied.

Objections to plaintiff’s interrogatories. The interrogatories objected to are as follows:

“1. Give the names and present a4dresses of all persons who, on behalf of the defendant, have been interviewed or from *113 whom statements, written or oral, have been received by the defendant in regard to the facts alleged in the complaint relating to the operation of the defendant’s train at the time and place alleged and the stopping thereof at defendant’s Wilmington yards.
“2. Give the names and addresses of all persons known to defendant who have knowledge of the facts specified in Interrogatory No. 1.
“3. Give the names and addresses of all persons who, on behalf of the defendant, have made an investigation of the facts alleged in the complaint, or in the preparation for the trial of this action, insofar as any such investigation relates to the subject matters stated in Interrogatory No. 1.
“4. Give the names and addresses of all persons who have in their possession written statements taken or written reports made, on behalf of the defendant, of the facts alleged in the complaint as limited by Interrogatory No. 1.”

Defendant contends that the interrogatories go beyond the scope permitted by Rule 33; and further that they are improper “because they relate to matters which are privileged, by reason of the fact that they pertain to documents, statements and other information obtained by agents of the defendant for the purpose of being laid before the defendant’s attorneys for guidance and use in impending litigation.” In the alternative, defendant moves for an order “that plaintiff specifically limit the scope of its Interrogatories to information regarding matters, statements and documents which are not privileged” for the above reason.

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Bluebook (online)
68 A.2d 513, 45 Del. 108, 6 Terry 108, 1949 Del. Super. LEXIS 63, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/winter-v-pennsylvania-railroad-delsuperct-1949.