Patti S. Delucca v. United States

In an award of damages in an FTCA case, the United States challenges (1) the addition to the lump sum award of an amount to compensate for taxes on income that will be earned by investing the award; and (2) the time period governing the award of post-judgment interest. We affirm on the first issue and modify the judgment on the second issue to conform to statute.

I.

The United States conceded liability in the death of plaintiff’s decedent. The court below awarded the wife of the deceased $483,380 for loss of her husband’s earnings and support. This amount was calculated as follows:

The court' then found that the rate of wage increases and the discount factor would “essentially balance off each other,” so it simply multiplied the $12,107 by 30.5 (the expected work life of the deceased). The award for loss of support came to $369,263.50. To this the court added $21,-793 (loss of support from accident to date of trial) for a total of $391,056.50.

The district court then added an amount to compensate for income taxes on the investment earnings of the lump sum award. It is this part of the calculation the government challenges. The district court stated:

The total loss of support…