## Facts

- Michael George Flannery, age 22, suffered extensive brain damage in an automobile collision and became permanently comatose.
- The collision was caused by the negligence of another driver who was a federal employee acting within the scope of employment.
- Suit was brought against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), with West Virginia tort law supplying the general measure of damages.
- After a bench trial, the district court awarded approximately $2.2 million, including past medical expenses, future medical expenses, impairment of earning capacity, and $1.3 million for “loss of the ability to enjoy life.”
- The United States did not dispute liability but appealed the composition and computation of damages, including the hedonic-loss award, the lost-earnings method, and possible overlap among categories.

## Issues

1. Whether an award for “loss of the ability to enjoy life” to a permanently unconscious plaintiff constitutes punitive damages barred by 28 U.S.C. § 2674.
2. Whether federal income taxes must be deducted when calculating future lost earnings under the FTCA to ensure the award reflects net, not gross, loss.
3. Whether the FTCA requires federal courts to exclude state-law damage components or calculations that, in substance, exceed actual compensation (including duplicative recovery across categories).

## Decision

- The Fourth Circuit reversed in part and remanded for recalculation of damages consistent with the FTCA’s compensatory-only limitation.
- The court vacated the $1.3 million award for “loss of the ability to enjoy life” as punitive when the plaintiff is permanently comatose and unaware of any deprivation.
- The court held that future lost-earnings awards must account for federal income taxes; awarding gross earnings risks overcompensation and becomes punitive in effect.
- The court directed the district court to ensure damage components are non-duplicative, including reviewing whether future-care awards and earning-capacity awards overlap.

## Legal Principles

- The FTCA is a limited waiver of sovereign immunity; statutory conditions, including the bar on punitive damages in 28 U.S.C. § 2674, must be enforced.
- Although state law generally governs tort damages under the FTCA, federal law controls whether a damages component is compensatory or punitive in substance.
- Hedonic or “loss of enjoyment of life” damages awarded to a permanently unconscious plaintiff are not compensatory under the FTCA because they do not correspond to a loss the plaintiff can experience; such awards function as a penalty and are barred.
- Lost-earnings damages under the FTCA must reflect expected net earnings; failure to deduct federal income taxes produces an award exceeding actual economic loss and is impermissible.
- FTCA damages must be strictly compensatory and may not duplicate other awarded losses (e.g., awarding both extensive future care costs and overlapping sums framed as lost earning capacity).

## Conclusion

The Fourth Circuit held that the FTCA permits only strictly compensatory damages: it barred hedonic-loss damages for a permanently comatose plaintiff, required deduction of federal income taxes in future lost-earnings calculations, and remanded for recomputation to eliminate any overcompensation or duplication among damage categories.


Flannery v. United States, 718 F.2d 108 (4th Cir. 1983)