Sullivan

Code of Civil Procedure section 377.34 prohibits recovery of damages for pain and suffering in an action brought or maintained on *292 behalf of a deceased plaintiff, We address here the narrow question whether this statute applies when a judgment for such damages is rendered while the decedent is alive but the decedent dies during the pendency of an appeal from that judgment. The Court of Appeal held that the statute does apply in that situation, and reversed a judgment for the decedent with directions to dismiss the action. As will appear, we conclude that the statute does not apply in the stated circumstances, and therefore reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeal with directions to address the merits of the appeal.

Most of the facts brought out at trial are irrelevant to the limited procedural question we address here. For present purposes it is enough to note the following: The decedent, Joseph A. Sullivan (Sullivan), was employed by defendant until his discharge in 1991. Sullivan filed an action against defendant on multiple legal theories arising from his termination, alleging 14 causes of action in his amended complaint. The trial court granted defense motions…

I would sign the majority opinion except that the majority decides an issue that we do not need to decide, and I am not sure it decides the issue correctly.

As the majority discusses (maj. opn., ante, at pp. 297-299), former versions of the survival statute that is now codified in Code of Civil Procedure section 377.34 barred “pain, suffering or disfigurement” damages only “[w]hen a [plaintiff] dies before judgment.” In this case, the majority correctly reads this same limitation into the current version of the statute, *310 noting, among other things, that the Legislature enacted the current version intending no “substantive change.” (Maj. opn., ante, at pp. 301-302.) Defendant argues that the phrase “before judgment” in the former versions meant before final judgment following all appeals. (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 303.) The majority correctly rejects this argument, but unnecessarily goes further, construing the phrase “before judgment” to have meant before a final appealable judgment. (Maj. opn., ante, at pp. 303-305.)

To be appealable, a judgment must dispose of all causes of action between the parties. (Morehart v. County of Santa Barbara (1994) 7 Cal.4th 725, 741 [ 29…

Code of Civil Procedure section 377.34 prohibits recovery of damages for pain and suffering in an action brought or maintained on behalf of a deceased plaintiff. (1a) We address here the narrow question whether this statute applies when a judgment for such damages is rendered while the decedent is alive but the decedent dies during the pendency of an appeal from that judgment. The Court of Appeal held that the statute does apply in that situation, and reversed a judgment for the decedent with directions to dismiss the action. As will appear, we conclude that the statute does not apply in the stated circumstances, and therefore reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeal with directions to address the merits of the appeal.

Most of the facts brought out at trial are irrelevant to the limited procedural question we address here. For present purposes it is enough to note the following: The decedent, Joseph A. Sullivan (Sullivan), was employed by defendant until his discharge in 1991. Sullivan filed an action against defendant on multiple legal theories arising from his termination, alleging 14 causes of action in his amended complaint. The trial court granted…