Ever since the Superior Court’s decision in Rettger v. UPMC Shadyside, 991 A.2d 915, 932 (Pa. Super., 2010), there has been a decided movement among our colleagues in the plaintiffs bar to seek compensation for grief—the emotional struggle suffered upon the wrongful death of a loved one. The reason for their wanting this is obvious: It could dramatically increase the size of verdicts. But I would argue that a preponderance of the current state of the law in Pennsylvania dictates that such damages are not recoverable.
In 2008, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, applying Pennsylvania law, held that evidence of a person’s emotional struggle because of another’s death is irrelevant and inadmissible, in Keller v. Feasterville Family Health Care Center, 557 F.Supp. 2d 671, 687 (E.D. Pa. 2008). The Keller court summarized the state of the law: “No recovery is permitted for grief and mental suffering, i.e. solatium, resulting from the loss of a decedent.”
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