John G. Voris v. Peter M. Molinaro — Palmer, J., dissenting

Summary

Palmer, J., dissenting, would hold that a spouse's loss of consortium claim is not extinguished merely because the injured spouse settled the underlying negligence claim. The dissent reasons that joinder of the claims, notice to the defendant, and proper jury instructions adequately prevent duplicative or inconsistent recoveries, while the settlement agreement did not release the plaintiff's claims. The dissent would reverse the trial court's ruling striking the consortium claim and remand for further proceedings.