Are Punitive Damages Nonetheless Pecuniary?

Are Punitive Damages Nonetheless Pecuniary?

By: Sara Ashton LaRosa

Edited by: Bryan O’Neill

In re Brennan Marine, Inc. v. Brennan Marine, Inc., 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111071 (D. Minn. Aug. 20, 2015).The wife of a seaman who drowned after a lock-assist tugboat crashed into a dam filed a wrongful death action under the Jones Act and a survival action under general maritime law against the owner and operator of the tugboat, Brennan Marine, Inc. The plaintiff requested pecuniary, non-pecuniary, and punitive damages. Brennan filed a motion for partial dismissal for failure to state a claim or in the alternative, for partial judgment on the pleadings asking the court to find that the plaintiff may not recover punitive or other non-pecuniary damages under either the Jones Act or under general maritime law. The court granted Brennan’s motion and dismissed the plaintiff’s claim for punitive damages under both the Jones Act and under the general maritime law.The court based its analysis on the Supreme Court’s decision in Miles v. Apex Marine Corporation, 498 U.S. 19 (1990). In Miles, the court held that “there is no recovery for loss of society in a Jones Act wrongful death action.” The court’s reasoning was that the Jones Act provided that any limitations that applied to the recovery for personal injury, wrongful death, or survival actions for railroad workers under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) also applied to recovery under the Jones Act. Because the Supreme Court had previously held that a railroad employee that brings a claim under FELA can only recover pecuniary damages, the Miles court reasoned that a seaman could only recover pecuniary damage under the Jones Act. The court further held that damages for loss of recovery is a type of non-pecuniary damages and therefore are non-recoverable under the Jones Act.The court had to determine whether punitive damages are pecuniary. If punitive damages are not pecuniary they are not recoverable under the Jones Act. The court found that pecuniary damages are compensatory in some way while punitive damages are meant to punish the defendant. Therefore, the court concluded that punitive damages are not pecuniary and are not recoverable under the Jones Act. Further supporting its decision, the court found that no court had ever awarded punitive damages under the Jones Act.Nor, according to the Miles court, is there recovery for loss of society under general maritime law for wrongful death. When the Jones Act was enacted there was no survival action under general maritime law. The survival action created under the Jones Act did not allow recovery for the loss of future wages. The Miles court concluded that they would not allow a more expansive recovery on a “judicially created claim than Congress allowed under the Jones Act.” Therefore, under general maritime law there is no recovery for loss of society.The court based its decision on the Fifth Circuit decision in McBride v. Estis Well Service, L.L.C., 768 F.3d 382(5th Cir. 2014) which based its decision on the Miles opinion. In McBride, the court concluded that punitive damages are not recoverable under an unseaworthiness claim because recovery for loss of society was not allowed for the unseaworthiness claim brought in Miles. The court in this case argued with the Miles court’s reasoning that it would be outside of their “constitutional scheme” to allow a broad form of recovery on a judicially created claim.In conclusion, the court held that punitive damages are not pecuniary and therefore cannot be recovered under the Jones Act or under general maritime law.