The Supreme Court of the State of Hawai’i held in its June 4, 2024 opinion in which the issue of first impression was whether an adult child’s claim of loss of parental consortium is cognizable when the parent has not died but has entered a persistent vegetative state and will not recover: “we now recognize a child’s loss of parental consortium claim when a parent is severely injured, whether the child is a minor or an adult … We now expressly add our state to those permitting parental consortium claims and hold that loss of parental consortium is cognizable for a child, whether a minor or an adult, when a parent is severely injured.”
Hawai’i’s Loss Of Parental Consortium Law Before June 4, 2024
Prior to the June 4, 2024 opinion, no action existed in favor of a child for injuries sustained by the parent not resulting in the parent’s death: Halberg (1957) held that “no action exists in favor of a child for injuries sustained by the parent not resulting in the parent’s death.” In Halberg, a mother was injured in a car accident and suit was brought by her husband and minor children, for the loss of the mother’s “kindness, care, attention and other incidents of the parent and child relationship. . . .” Although the extent of her injuries was unclear, she survived the accident and would apparently recover. The Supreme Court of the Territory of Hawai‘i held that her children could not maintain an action against those who negligently injured her because “[t]here is no decision of a Hawaiian court, supreme or nisi prius, that holds a minor child has a cause of action for injury to his parent and the overwhelming weight of authority is against such action.” The Halberg court assumed injury short of death would not permanently deprive a child of parental care and support, which is not true in all circumstances. The Halberg court concluded that if the claim were to be recognized, it should be done by the legislature.
Thirty years later, the Hawai’i Supreme Court held that “a parent may recover damages for the loss of filial consortium of an injured adult child.” Masaki, 71 Haw. at 22, 780 P.2d at 578. In Masaki, 28-year-old Steven Masaki was rendered a quadriplegic after the van he was jump-starting shifted into gear and ran him over. His parents sued in negligence and included claims for loss of filial consortium. A jury returned a verdict in their favor. Id. On appeal, the defendants challenged, among other things, the loss of filial consortium award where Steven had been injured but not killed.
The Hawai’i Supreme Court in Masaki acknowledged that neither the legislature nor the Hawai’i Supreme Court had previously recognized such a claim; however, the court held there was little distinction between death and severe injury, so the purposes of HRS § 663-3 would be served by recognizing the cause of action. The Masaki court stated that “severe injury may have just as deleterious an impact on filial consortium as death.” In Masaki, the Hawai’i Supreme Court held that loss of filial consortium should not be limited to parents of severely injured minor children.
HELG Administrative Services, LLC v. Department of Health State of Hawai’i, SCAP-22-0000699.
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