Question

George, Jerry, and Harry are passengers on a flight from Chicago to New York. They injure their legs when their seatbelts do not fasten during take-off The airline is sued by all three together for injuries caused, and the airline is found to be negligent and is directed by the court to pay damages to the injured parties. Which of the following parties is entitled to recover maximum damages?

A) George, a retired professor who gets a pension of $50,000 a year
B) Jerry, a football player who earns $2 million a year
C) Harry, a chartered accountant who earns $200,000 a year
D) George, Jerry, and Harry

Answer 1

B) Jerry, a football player who earns $2 million a year

Step-by-step explanation:

In an accident owing to the negligence of a party, what requires notice is which body part gets injured and how it affects an individual's earning capacity.

In the given case, George is a retired professor who gets assured pension of $50,000 a year. Harry being a chartered accountant earns $200,000 an year. Injury to the leg will affect them less comparatively to Jerry, being a football player.

Injury to his leg would make him lose out on $2 million of income being the highest among the three. Secondly, his profession requires the use of that body part which has been actually injured i.e the leg.

Thus, out of the three, the footballer is entitled to recover the maximum damages as per the facts.