## Facts

- John T. Brennan drove a car carrying his minor children Patrick, Brian, and Sean when it collided with a car driven by Henry Biber and owned by Henry Stockhammer (July 21, 1962).
- The children sued for personal injuries; John sued for his injuries and vehicle damage.
- Monica Brennan sued for the children’s medical-related expenses and for loss of the children’s services, society, and companionship.
- Defendants asserted contributory negligence by John.
- The jury returned no-cause verdicts for Patrick, Brian, John, and Monica, but awarded Sean $1,100.
- Plaintiffs moved for a new trial as to all plaintiffs except Sean (liability and damages), for Sean as to damages only, or alternatively for additur.

## Issues

1. Whether the no-cause verdicts for John, Monica, Patrick, and Brian were against the weight of the evidence requiring a new trial.
2. Whether the jury charge erroneously addressed (a) the effect of the father’s contributory negligence on the children’s claims and (b) the mother’s claims for medical expenses and loss of services/society/companionship.
3. Whether Sean’s $1,100 verdict was so inadequate as to require a new trial on damages or additur.

## Decision

- The court denied a new trial for John, Monica, Patrick, and Brian.
- The court denied a new trial limited to damages for Sean and denied additur.
- The court found the evidence permitted reasonable jurors to reach the verdicts and found no reversible error in the jury instructions.

## Legal Principles

- A parent’s contributory negligence is not imputed to a child and does not bar the child’s independent personal-injury recovery.
- Parental claims for consequential damages (including a child’s medical expenses and loss of services/society/companionship) are derivative and may be barred by the contributing parent’s negligence.
- Under then-prevailing New Jersey law, the father generally held the claim for a minor child’s medical expenses; a spouse’s payment of those expenses from the father’s funds did not shift the right of recovery.
- A new trial may be granted only when a verdict is against the weight of the evidence; additur or a damages-only retrial is warranted only when the award is so inadequate as to indicate mistake, prejudice, partiality, or passion.

## Conclusion

The court left the jury’s verdicts intact, holding that the father’s contributory negligence could defeat parental derivative claims for the children’s expenses and related losses while not defeating the children’s direct injury claims, and that neither the liability findings nor the $1,100 damages award warranted post-trial intervention.


Brennan v. Biber, 93 N.J. Super. 351, 225 A.2d 742 (N.J. Super. Ct. Law Div. 1966)