## Facts

- Dennis McCrann, a seaman-electrician, worked aboard the S.S. American Champion, owned by United States Lines, Inc.
- On November 29, 1979, McCrann slipped and fell on a deck covered with a mixture of oil and water, injuring his neck and right elbow.
- The unsafe condition was attributed to water leaking through allegedly watertight doors, allowing water to accumulate and mix with oil.
- The injuries left McCrann unfit to return to his prior seafaring electrician work and caused past and projected future wage loss.
- McCrann sued under the Jones Act and general maritime law, including unseaworthiness.
- After a bench trial in the Southern District of New York, the court found the vessel owner negligent and the vessel unseaworthy and awarded $275,544 in compensatory damages for lost earnings.
- Liability was not appealed; the parties appealed only damages methodology: McCrann challenged the discount rate used to present-value future losses, and United States Lines challenged the prejudgment interest rate.

## Issues

1. Whether the district court abused its discretion by using a 2% discount rate to reduce future earnings losses to present value rather than adopting the plaintiff’s economist’s proposed rate.
2. Whether the district court abused its discretion by awarding prejudgment interest at 9% as excessive.

## Decision

- The Second Circuit affirmed the judgment in all respects.
- The court held the 2% discount rate was within the permissible range and consistent with circuit practice; no abuse of discretion was shown.
- The court held the 9% prejudgment interest rate was consistent with prevailing rates and circuit practice; no abuse of discretion was shown.
- Both the defendant’s appeal and the plaintiff’s cross-appeal were rejected.

## Legal Principles

- Future economic losses in personal injury cases must be reduced to present value using a reasonable discount rate to prevent over- or under-compensation.
- In the Second Circuit, the choice of discount rate is committed to the trial court’s discretion and is not dictated by uncontradicted expert testimony if the selected rate is reasonable and consistent with precedent.
- Prejudgment interest in maritime personal injury cases is ordinarily awarded to compensate for the loss of use of money before judgment.
- The prejudgment interest rate is likewise committed to the trial court’s discretion, so long as it reasonably reflects market conditions and compensatory goals.
- Appellate review of discount-rate and prejudgment-interest determinations is deferential and limited to abuse of discretion.

## Conclusion

The Second Circuit upheld the district court’s damages calculations, confirming that trial courts have broad discretion to select reasonable present-value discount and prejudgment interest rates in maritime personal-injury cases, and that such choices will be disturbed on appeal only for abuse of discretion.


McCrann v. United States Lines, Inc., 803 F.2d 771 (2d Cir. 1986)