On October 9, 2009, United States District Court Judge Karl S. Forrester issued an order reinstating the loss of spousal consortium claim of Jamie Hebert, the last surviving spouse with a wrongful death claim against Comair for the August 27, 2006 crash of Comair Flight 5191. Ms. Hebert’s husband, Bryan Keith Woodward, was killed when Flight 5191 crashed shortly after takeoff from Lexington, Kentucky.
Judge Forrester entered the order 8 days after the Kentucky Supreme Court held in a unanimous decision that a surviving spouse had the right to sue for loss of consortium damages for the wrongful death of his or her spouse. Previous to this ruling, a surviving spouse could only sue for these damages if his or her spouse had been badly injured, but not if the spouse had been killed. Immediately after the Kentucky Supreme Court’s ruling, Ms. Hebert’s attorney, David Rapoport, filed a document in Ms. Hebert’s case in the Eastern District of Kentucky requesting that Ms. Hebert’s loss of consortium claim be recognized.
Judge Forrester’s order vacated a prior order entered in favor of Comair that dismissed Ms. Hebert’s loss of consortium claim.