NATION : Justices Limit Lawsuit Damages
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WASHINGTON — The families of American seamen killed while on the job cannot sue over lost future earnings or force payment for the survivors’ “loss of society,” the Supreme Court ruled today.
By an 8-0 vote, the court said wrongful-death lawsuits may be filed in such cases but added that any damages recovered cannot include those for loss of society or for lost future earnings.
The decision, yielding the first signed opinion of the court’s 1990-91 term, was a defeat for the mother of a seaman murdered while his ship was docked in Vancouver, Wash., six years ago.
Ludwick Torregano, 24, was stabbed to death aboard the Archon on July 18, 1984 by a fellow crew member.
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