Benn v. Thomas

Facts

On February 15, 1989, on an icy road in Missouri, a semi-tractor and trailer rear-ended a van. Loras J. Benn was a passenger in the van. He suffered a bruised chest and a fractured ankle. Six days later he died of a heart attack. Carol A. Benn, as executor of his estate, sued the driver of the semi-tractor, its owner, and its permanent lessee. The estate sought damages for Loras's injuries and for his death. At trial the estate's medical expert, Dr. Davia, testified that Loras had a history of coronary disease and insulin-dependent diabetes. Loras had suffered a heart attack in 1985 and was at risk of another. Dr. Davia testified that the accident and the problems it caused in Loras's body were the final burden that brought on the death. Other medical evidence indicated that the accident did not cause the death. Based on Dr. Davia's testimony, the estate asked for a jury instruction on the "eggshell plaintiff" rule. The trial court refused. It gave only a general instruction on proximate cause. The jury awarded $17,000 for Loras's injuries and nothing for his death. In a special verdict it found that the defendant's negligence was not a proximate cause of the death.

Issues

1. Did the trial court commit reversible error by refusing to give an eggshell plaintiff instruction, and relying only on a general proximate cause instruction, when the estate offered medical testimony that the accident brought on the death of a man with a history of coronary disease?
2. Does a party waive a hearsay objection to deposition testimony by failing to object during the deposition, when that party took the deposition?

Holding

The record warranted an eggshell plaintiff instruction because the estate offered substantial medical testimony that the stresses of the accident and later treatment caused Loras's fatal heart attack. The general proximate cause instruction did not adequately convey the eggshell plaintiff rule, so refusing the requested instruction was reversible error and a new trial was required.