Ford Motor Co. v. Superior Court

In this state the recoverability of punitive damages in a death case depends upon whether the decedent became such instantaneously or less quickly. The magic is in determining whether the victim had “a cause of action” (Prob. Code, § 573) before he died: if he did, it survives together with a punitive measurement of damages. 1 In short, a malicious actor is subject to such punishment when he harms property, when he causes personal injury or nonimmediate death, but not when he dispatches you straightaway.

*754 The facts of this case highlight some of the unusual mechanics of the rule. The Ford Pinto immediately burst into flames when struck from the rear. Terrance Canady, whose passenger door was jammed by the impact, was burned to death. The driver, Jerry O’Neal, escaped without serious physical injury. Ford Motor Company’s conduct in creating and marketing a type of vehicle with known dangerous propensities was the basis for the claim for punitive damages. Terrance’s heirs may not recover a punitive award against Ford although Jerry O’Neal, the driver who was sitting no more than two feet from Terrance at the moment of impact, may seek such damages along with his personal injury…

Ford Motor Company, defendant in a wrongful death action, petitions this court for a writ of mandate requiring respondent superior court to sustain a demurrer to a cause of action seeking punitive damages.

Real parties in interest sued petitioner for the wrongful death of their son, a passenger in a Pinto automobile which burned when struck by another automobile. In two causes of action real parties sought compensatory damages based on theories of negligence and product liability. In a third cause of action real parties sought punitive damages on allegations that petitioner had acted maliciously, oppressively, fraudulently and in conscious disregard for the safety of others in marketing the Pinto automobile.

Petitioner demurred to the third cause of action, asserting that punitive damages are not recoverable in a wrongful death action. Real parties argued in opposition to the demurrer that the denial of punitive damages in wrongful death actions violates equal protection guarantees in the California and United States Constitutions (citing In re Paris Air Crash of March 3, 1974 (C.D.Cal. 1977) 427 F.Supp. 701 ). Respondent court overruled the demurrer. Thereafter, the…

Bostwick & Tehin and Bruce Robert Pfaff for Real Parties in Interest.

OPINION

CHRISTIAN, J.

Ford Motor Company, defendant in a wrongful death action, petitions this court for a writ of mandate requiring respondent superior court to sustain a demurrer to a cause of action seeking punitive damages.

Real parties in interest sued petitioner for the wrongful death of their son, a passenger in a Pinto automobile which burned when struck by another automobile. In two causes of action real parties sought compensatory damages based on theories of negligence and product liability. In a third cause of action real parties sought punitive damages on allegations that petitioner had acted maliciously, oppressively, fraudulently and in conscious disregard for the safety of others in marketing the Pinto automobile.

Petitioner demurred to the third cause of action, asserting that punitive damages are not recoverable in a wrongful death action. Real parties argued in opposition to the demurrer that the denial of punitive damages in wrongful death actions violates equal protection guarantees in the California and United States Constitutions (citing In re Paris Air Crash of March 3, 1974…