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Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp. v. Garrett8/28/1996
ine two previous code sections but not to change the types of actions permitted to survive the death of a party. See chapter 2, § 2 of the acts of 1973, 1st Sp. Sess. For the purposes of this case, the statute remains unchanged.
The plain language of § 6-401 indicates that a wrongful death action, as a personal action at law, may survive the death of either party. A similar result would obtain under chapter 242 of the acts of 1888 as applicable immediately after the Harvey decision, because a wrongful death action is one "to recover damages to the person by negligence."
Although the plain language of the statute is controlling, it is useful to confirm that understanding with a look at the statutory scheme and the public policy that animates it. PH argues that permitting survival of a cause of action instituted by a primary beneficiary would displace the secondary beneficiaries. This analysis is incorrect. Instead, in applying the wrongful death statute, we must ask if a statutorily defined primary beneficiary survived the decedent and could file suit. If that primary beneficiary survives to file suit, then that beneficiary, or the beneficiary's successor, can recover. If there are no living primary beneficiaries to file suit, then a secondary beneficiary may file suit. The secondary beneficiary, or in the event of the secondary beneficiary's death after institution, but prior to conclusion, of the suit, the successor to the secondary beneficiary, may continue the suit to judgment. If there are neither primary nor secondary beneficiaries living to file suit, no one may recover for the decedent's wrongful death. Victoria Croghan was the primary beneficiary's successor and as such can recover on behalf of Mrs. Hohman's estate.
The result we must reach is also consistent with the purpose underlying the wrongful death statute. PH's acts deprived Mrs. Hohman of her husband's economic and emotional support for the last eight years of her life. This deprivation was not abated by her death. Her estate may be smaller now than it would have been had her husband survived. Therefore it was perfectly appropriate for the trial judge to substitute Victoria Croghan as the personal representative of the estate of her mother, Jeanette Hohman, in her wrongful death suit against PH.
F. Punitive Damages Award Against OCF
Only one of the defendants, OCF, was found liable by the jury for punitive damages, in the case of Mr. Scruggs and his exposure to OCF Kaylo during the years 1968-1972. OCF argues strenuously that plaintiffs failed to meet their burden of proof for punitive damages of actual malice, as required by Owens Illinois , Inc. v. Zenobia, supra, 325 Md. 420, 601 A.2d 633, a strict products liability action involving asbestos exposure. We agree. We review the applicable law and apply it to the evidence presented to the jury in the instant case.
The purpose of punitive damages is not only to punish the defendant for egregiously bad conduct toward the plaintiff, but also to deter the defendant and others contemplating similar behavior. Our most recent reiteration of these twin purposes in an asbestos products liability case was in ACandS, Inc. v. Godwin, supra, 340 Md. 334 at 361-62, 667 A.2d at 129 (citing Zenobia, 325 Md. at 454, 601 A.2d at 649-50; Schaefer v. Miller, 322 Md. 297, 321, 587 A.2d 491, 503 (1991), Embrey v. Holly, 293 Md. 128, 142, 442 A.2d 966, 973 (1982); First Nat'l Bank v. Fidelity & Deposit Co., 283 Md. 228, 232, 389 A.2d 359, 361 (1978)).
As we discussed in both Zenobia and Godwin, however, the imposition of serious monetary liability for egregious conduct can only work as a deterrent to future conduct if the stand
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