Fury Bailey - Personal Injury - Wrongful Death Attorneys

JUSTICE DENIED WHEN ADULT CHILDREN DIE

By William S. Bailey

In the early 1980's, after a semi-retired senior partner in my first firm lost his 55-year-old son to a sudden, massive heart attack, he told me, “You never want to bury your children, no matter how old they are.” Even though my own children were preschool age at the time, I understood exactly what he meant. Then, as now, the worst thing I can possibly imagine for any parent at any age is the loss of a child.

Anecdotal evidence and scientific research both demonstrate the severe mental suffering of parents who lose adult children. When popular entertainer Dean Martin's beloved son Dino died in the crash of an air national guard jet in California , those closest to Martin observed that he became a haunted presence, seemingly losing the will to live. This is consistent with all the clinical research, which reports profound disturbances of day-to-day functioning in such parents. One of the leading scientists in this area, Dr. Shirley Murphy concludes:

It is difficult to imagine experiencing trouble remembering things, one's mind going blank, no interest in things, feeling hopeless about the future, and wanting to smash things for an extended period of time as reported [by these parents].

In the summer of 2002, I began a trial in which my passion as a father joined with my passion for justice as a trial lawyer. I represented George and Kathryn Philippides in a wrongful death case for the loss of their intelligent, handsome and charismatic 22-year-old son Yianni. I had taken case knowing that the law in my state was believed by many to foreclose legal action by non-dependent parents in the death of an adult child.

The love and sacrifices George and Kathryn had made for Yianni and their two older children, as well as the kindness and respect they showed to all people, justified giving this case everything I had in me. Beyond this, I felt a special admiration for Yianni, whose short life epitomized such great potential, with not only academic achievement, but a love of people and an earnest search for wisdom.

Knowing that much would be expected of him once he began a career, Yianni had taken some time off after college, supporting himself as a bicycle messenger in Seattle . On the afternoon of June 22, 2001 , he was run down on his bicycle in a marked crosswalk in the late afternoon by a rented SUV driven by traveling salesman Robert Bernard.

Yianni was rushed to the regional trauma center, unconscious, with a severe head injury. Summoned as a family contact, his older sister Zoe later made telephone contact with their parents, who were on vacation in Alaska . They drove for ten straight hours to Anchorage , rushed home to Seattle and were in constant attendance at their son's bedside thereafter. Yianni never regained consciousness, lingered on life support for a week and died after several unsuccessful brain surgeries.

Though the man that hit their son remained in Seattle during this time, Robert Bernard never once came by the hospital while Yianni clung to life, nor did he apologize in any fashion to the family after Yianni died. His only consequence in the criminal justice system was a $250 traffic ticket for failure to yield the right of way.

For George and Kathryn Philippides, this case was never about the money. Their son's life was not for sale. The Philippides never would have filed a lawsuit if the man who had killed their son had simply apologized, expressed regret and asked for forgiveness. But Robert Bernard had said nothing, going on with his life in a distant city with seemingly few consequences.

Most states close the courthouse door to parents like George and Kathryn Philippides, even though they have suffered an unimaginable loss due to the fault of another. While the value of children has shifted fundamentally in American society from economic in Charles Dickens' time to objects of love and affection in our post-industrial age, the law continues to regard them as property. This flies in the face of a demonstrated societal pattern of increasing closeness between parents and children. While romantic attachments and social friendships may be transient, the parent-child bond has been demonstrated to be remarkably durable, critical to basic stability, good mental health and the enjoyment of life.

The policy of many states preventing parents from bringing civil actions for accountability when children over the age of majority are killed also creates a real public safety issue. Even though improved diet and health care has increased the average life expectancy in modern day America , there is an epidemic of violent deaths of young people, often due to negligent motorists. There is also a very real economic consequence. The AARP and other organizations have done research proving most of the care for aging parents in America is provided by adult children, not nursing homes. In that the death of adult children removes a potential caretaker for parents as they grow old and infirm, this burden can shift to the taxpayers instead of the wrongdoer who caused the loss.

As expected, my opponent in the Philippides case brought a motion for summary judgment as a matter of law, seeking dismissal of the parents' claims for loss of their son's companionship. A courageous trial judge denied the motion, ruling that a legislative amendment to Washington 's Wrongful Death Act had added the loss of emotional support of a deceased adult child as a potential basis of the cause of action.

An interlocutory appeal by the defense was demanded. The case proceeded to trial. The jury found Robert Bernard 100% at fault and awarded George and Kathryn Philippides each $900,000 for the loss of their son's companionship in addition to the diminished value of Yianni's estate. However, the Washington State Supreme Court, by a 7-2 majority, took this verdict away two years later, following an appeal by defendant Bernard's lawyers:

While we may agree that the value parents place on children in our society is no longer associated with the child's ability to provide income to the parents, the legislature has defined who can sue for the wrongful death and injury of a child and we cannot alter the legislative direction.

The Washington court refused to recognize that there had ever been an independent common law right to recover for the wrongful death of an adult child, even though the supreme courts of several other states had done so.

Never has a result been more difficult for me to accept. Any enlightened concept of justice must include the relief of human suffering in a proportional way. Those who have suffered the greatest harm, such as the parents of adult children who have been wrongfully killed, should have rights commensurate to effectively address the gravity of this wrong.

I went to Yianni's older sister Zoe's wedding recently, the wrongful death trial now over three years past. George Philippides got up to address the congregation of family and friends on this happy occasion. As he began to talk about the difficulty of Yianni not being there with them, this proud, stoic man became choked with emotion and had to take an extended pause to collect himself. The pain of losing a child at any age never goes away, always remaining close to the surface.

In college, Yianni Philippides made a journal entry on the importance of living in the moment:

Life is ours, not for the taking because one cannot take life, but to live. . . . Stand from the mountain and look out upon the world . . . Remember to always live in the now, always be aware of everything and everyone.

For the rest of my life, I will never forget Yianni, his family or the failure of our legal system to address their great loss. It haunts me still.

Copyright © 2005 FuryBailey.com - Sitemap