## Facts

- Jeffrey Todd Martin and Melvin Burrows II were minors (middle-school age) riding a motorbike home from school in Phoenix, Arizona.
- On September 21, 1977, at about 6:00 p.m., they struck a sagging (“down”) electrical power line.
- The court found the power line had been negligently maintained by the United States, and that the government failed to prove contributory negligence by the boys.
- Both boys suffered severe, permanent burn injuries requiring extensive hospitalization and repeated surgical treatment.
- Burrows sustained severe burns across much of his body, including his face, and required multiple painful procedures; his disfigurement affected his social functioning and employability.
- Martin sustained severe burns and, during treatment, his right arm was amputated; he underwent multiple skin grafts and experienced lasting physical and social consequences.
- The case was tried to the court under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). After an oral ruling for plaintiffs on liability, the court issued the reported decision addressing damages.
- The parties agreed on past medical expenses and largely agreed on future medical expenses, leaving the court to determine the remaining components of compensatory damages, including lost earning capacity and non-economic damages.

## Issues

1. What compensatory damages should be awarded for each plaintiff, including past and future medical expenses, the present value of lost future earning capacity, and pain and suffering (including interference with normal activities)?
2. How should the court determine and discount to present value the plaintiffs’ future earning-capacity losses where the plaintiffs were minors and their pre-injury career paths were probabilistic?

## Decision

- The court awarded compensatory damages against the United States under the FTCA after previously finding the government negligent and rejecting contributory negligence.
- The court treated the proper damage components as: (1) past medical expenses, (2) future medical expenses, (3) present value of lost future earning capacity, and (4) pain and suffering and interference with normal and usual activities.
- The court accepted agreed amounts for past medical expenses and largely agreed amounts for future medical care, including future surgical and related treatment needs (including psychological care tied to ongoing treatment for at least one plaintiff).
- For lost earning capacity, the court compared each plaintiff’s likely pre-injury earning trajectory (supported by vocational and economic testimony) with the reduced range of jobs and wages reasonably available after the injuries, then reduced future losses to present value.
- The court also awarded substantial sums for pain, suffering, disfigurement, and long-term limits on ordinary life activities, based on the severity and permanence of the injuries and the course of treatment.

## Legal Principles

- Under the FTCA, the United States is liable “in the same manner and to the same extent as a private individual under like circumstances,” and compensatory damages are assessed using the law of the place where the tort occurred.
- In a catastrophic-injury negligence case, compensatory damages commonly include past medical expenses, future medical expenses, diminished earning capacity (measured as the present value of future loss), and pain and suffering, including loss of enjoyment of ordinary activities.
- Loss of earning capacity focuses on impairment of the ability to earn money, not merely past wages; for minors, the court may rely on vocational and economic testimony about likely career paths absent the injury and realistic post-injury work options.
- Future losses are reduced to present value; courts may consider investment return assumptions supported by the record and may decline to take judicial notice of disputed inflation or cost-escalation rates without an adequate evidentiary basis.
- Damages may include reasonably necessary future care connected to the injury, including treatment addressing psychological effects when supported by the evidence.

## Conclusion

Martin v. United States is an FTCA damages decision in which the district court, after finding the United States negligent for a dangerously sagging power line and rejecting contributory negligence, calculated comprehensive compensatory awards for two severely injured minors, itemizing medical expenses, quantifying diminished earning capacity by present-value methods, and granting significant non-economic damages for enduring pain, disfigurement, and lasting limits on normal life activities.


Martin v. United States, 471 F. Supp. 6 (1979)