In California, a plaintiff can recover for loss of consortium if they are the spouse of an injured person and can prove harm to the marital relationship. This recovery includes non-economic damages such as loss of companionship and services, but specifically excludes certain economic losses.
A plaintiff can claim harm due to injury to their spouse and, if the injured spouse proves their claim, the plaintiff may recover money for the loss of their spouse's companionship and services 1. This includes the loss of love, companionship, comfort, care, assistance, protection, affection, society, and moral support 1. It also includes the loss of the enjoyment of sexual relations or the ability to have children 1. The plaintiff may recover for harm suffered to date and for harm reasonably certain to be suffered in the future 1. For future harm, the amount should be determined in current dollars paid at the time of judgment 1. There is no fixed standard for deciding the amount of these damages; the jury must use its judgment to decide a reasonable amount based on the evidence and common sense 1.
Loss of consortium damages are noneconomic damages 1. The recovery for loss of consortium specifically excludes several types of damages 1. These excluded damages include the loss of financial support from the injured spouse 1. Also excluded are personal services, such as nursing, that the plaintiff has provided or will provide to the injured spouse 1. Any loss of earnings that the plaintiff has suffered by giving up employment to care for the injured spouse is not recoverable under loss of consortium 1. Finally, the cost of obtaining domestic household services to replace services that would have been performed by the injured spouse is also excluded 1.
The exclusive remedy provisions of workers' compensation law can bar civil actions against employers by an employee's spouse for loss of the employee's services or consortium 4. This means that if an injury falls under workers' compensation, a spouse generally cannot sue the employer for loss of consortium 4. An employer-employee relationship must exist for the Workers' Compensation Act to apply 4. The Act's coverage extends beyond traditional contracts of hire 4.
This article does not cover whether loss of consortium claims can be brought by individuals who are not spouses, such as children or parents of an injured person, as the provided sources only address spousal claims 1. The sources do not detail the specific procedural requirements for bringing a loss of consortium claim, nor do they discuss potential defenses beyond the workers' compensation exclusivity rule [1, 4]. Additionally, the interaction of loss of consortium claims with other types of damages, such as survival damages or lost earning capacity, is not fully explored [2, 8].
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