## Facts

- Donna Green, a high-school senior, was killed in an automobile accident during her senior year.
- Her parents filed a wrongful-death action under New Jersey’s Wrongful Death Act against the driver, Stanley Bittner, Jr.
- Liability was tried separately and found in plaintiffs’ favor.
- At the damages phase, the jury was instructed to award “fair and just” damages for “pecuniary injuries” to the statutory beneficiaries.
- The jury returned a verdict of zero damages, implicitly finding no pecuniary loss to the survivors.
- The trial court denied relief from the verdict, and the Appellate Division affirmed.

## Issues

1. Whether a zero-damages verdict may stand in a wrongful-death action for the death of a child when liability is established and evidence supports a finding of pecuniary loss.
2. Whether “pecuniary injuries” under the Wrongful Death Act are limited to lost financial contributions and household services, or also include the pecuniary value of a child’s companionship, advice, and guidance to parents.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of New Jersey reversed and remanded for a new trial limited to damages.
- The Court held the zero-damages verdict was a miscarriage of justice in light of the evidence and the proper scope of recoverable pecuniary loss.
- The Court held that “pecuniary injuries” for a child’s wrongful death may include the pecuniary value of companionship, advice, and guidance to parents, but not purely emotional loss.

## Legal Principles

- “Pecuniary injuries” include deprivation of a reasonable expectation of pecuniary advantage from the decedent’s continued life, not only direct monetary contributions.
- In a child-death wrongful-death case, recoverable pecuniary loss is not limited to anticipated earnings or household chores; it can include the market value of services embodied in companionship, advice, and guidance that could be supplied by paid providers.
- No award may be made for grief, emotional suffering, or the added emotional satisfaction of receiving care from one’s child rather than a stranger.
- A verdict of no damages for the death of a child, where some pecuniary loss is reasonably inferable under the proper measure, should ordinarily be set aside and retried on damages.

## Conclusion

The court broadened wrongful-death damages for the death of a child to include the pecuniary value of companionship-related services (including advice and guidance) while excluding purely emotional loss, and it ordered a new damages trial because a zero-damages verdict could not be justified under the correct legal standard.


Green v. Bittner, 85 N.J. 1, 424 A.2d 210 (N.J. 1980)