## Facts

- Erin Joynt was sunbathing on a Volusia County beach when she was run over by a Volusia County Beach Patrol truck and severely injured.
- She was hospitalized for six days with skull fractures and internal injuries, later undergoing reconstructive surgery and implantation of a gold weight in her left eyelid.
- At trial, Joynt reported continuing impairments including left-ear hearing difficulty, facial paralysis, chronic upper-back pain, radiating chest pain, headaches, and memory loss.
- Before the incident, Joynt worked as a reading-intervention para-educator but was voluntarily out of the workforce to stay home with her children.
- About a year after the accident, she returned to work earning about $18,000 per year plus benefits.
- Joynt’s principal testified she was effective, would be rehired, and had no present career-progression concerns, subject to reevaluation only if her health later declined.
- A jury awarded $2.6 million: $2,000,000 for past and future pain and suffering, $500,000 for diminished earning capacity, and $100,000 for future medical expenses.
- The County moved for a directed verdict on diminished earning capacity and future medical expenses; the trial court denied the motion and entered judgment on the verdict.

## Issues

1. Whether the evidence provided a legally sufficient, non-speculative basis for the $500,000 award for loss of future earning capacity.
2. Whether the evidence provided a reasonable, non-speculative basis for the $100,000 award of future medical expenses.

## Decision

- The appellate court affirmed the $2,000,000 award for past and future pain and suffering.
- The court reversed the $500,000 award for loss of future earning capacity.
- The court reversed the $100,000 award for future medical expenses.
- The case was remanded for entry of an amended judgment excluding the reversed future economic damages.

## Legal Principles

- A directed verdict is proper only when there is no reasonable evidence on which a jury could legally base a verdict for the nonmoving party.
- Loss of future earning capacity compensates for diminished capacity to earn income, not merely potential future wage loss; it requires competent evidence of impairment and a reasonable basis to quantify the loss.
- Future economic damages must be proven with reasonable certainty and cannot rest on conjecture about possible future deterioration or expenses.
- Future medical expenses require competent evidence that specific future treatment and associated costs are reasonably certain to be incurred.

## Conclusion

The court held that severe and permanent injuries, without competent proof tying them to a reasonably certain, measurable reduction in earning capacity or reasonably certain future medical costs, cannot support awards for future economic damages.


Volusia Cnty. v. Joynt, 179 So. 3d 448 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015)