Eric Ward, et al. v. M/Y Utopia IV, Official No. 1305829, MMSI No. 339328000, her engines, tackle, gear, appurtenances, etc., in rem, and Utopia Yachting, LLC, in personam

Summary

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida granted Defendants’ motion to strike Plaintiff Fred Wennberg’s election to proceed with a new trial. The Court held that the challenged damages awards for past lost wage-earning capacity were legally impermissible under Eleventh Circuit precedent and could be stricken without providing a new-trial option. The Court also ordered mediation concerning Plaintiff Eric Ward’s punitive damages.

Holdings

1. A motion styled as a motion to strike an election of a new trial may be construed as a motion for reconsideration under Rule 59(e) when it challenges the Court's prior order granting the new-trial option.
2. Reconsideration was warranted because the prior grant of a new-trial option constituted a manifest error of law.
3. The Seventh Amendment did not require Wennberg to receive the option of a new trial because the Court corrected legally impermissible damages under Rule 50 rather than substituting its judgment for the jury's as to the appropriate amount of damages.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Defendants' motion to strike Wennberg's election to proceed with a new trial should be treated as a motion for reconsideration under Rule 59(e) or Rule 60(b).
2. Whether the Court's prior elimination of Wennberg's lost-earning-capacity awards was a legal-error correction under Rule 50, rather than a traditional remittitur requiring an option of a new trial under the Seventh Amendment.
3. Whether Wennberg was entitled to elect a new trial after the Court determined that the challenged damages were not legally supportable because the trial evidence was insufficient to establish the full extent of his post-injury earning capacity.

Disposition

other