Also known as: loss-of-society · loss of companionship
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A derivative tort claim allowing the uninjured spouse to recover for the loss of companionship, affection, services, and sexual capacity resulting from bodily harm to the other spouse.
Lola Langley suffered severe burns when a deep fryer exploded at her workplace. Her husband Lamar Lewis paid for substitute childcare and lost her household help and intimacy during recovery. Lamar filed a separate action for those losses after Lola settled her own injury claim. Because joinder with the bodily injury suit had been possible, the court dismissed his action.
A seaman died from a stabbing aboard a vessel docked in port. His nondependent mother, as administratrix, sought loss of society damages in a general maritime unseaworthiness action. The court applied the uniformity principle drawn from the Jones Act and DOHSA and denied the claim.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Yes. The Restatement requires joinder unless it is impossible, and recovery is allowed only when the claims are joined. Courts enforce the rule to promote judicial economy and avoid inconsistent verdicts.
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It covers loss of love, affection, care, attention, companionship, comfort, protection, and impairment of sexual relations. Reasonable expenses incurred by the uninjured spouse for medical care are also recoverable.
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Yes. The decision precludes nonpecuniary loss of society damages in Moragne actions for the death of a seaman to maintain uniformity with the Jones Act and DOHSA, which limit recovery to pecuniary losses.
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No. If joinder was possible at the time of the primary action, a later separate suit is barred even after settlement.
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…the parent of a seaman who died from injuries incurred aboard respondents’ vessel may recover under general maritime law for loss of society, and whether a claim for the seaman’s lost future earnings survives his death. I Ludwick Torregano was a seaman aboard the vessel M/V Archon . On the evening of July 18, 1984,…