Claim for Loss of Consortium Now Allowed After Death

When Comair Flight 5191 crashed near the Blue Grass Airport in August 2006, killing all 49 people aboard, all the families of the deceased settled with the airline company except one.

Wanting the airline to publicly acknowledge responsibility for the crash, Bryan Keith Woodward’s widow sued Comair, citing loss of consortium. The lawsuit was allowed to go forward when the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled recently that a spouse can sue for loss of physical and emotional companionship after the death of a spouse. Before the ruling, loss of consortium could be claimed only in cases of incapacity, not death.

A U.S. District Court jury awarded Mr. Woodward’s family $7.1 million.