Buttita v. Stenberg

Plaintiff Annette Buttita filed this negligence action as a result of personal injuries she sustained in a March 4, 1985, rear-end motor vehicle collision with defendant Patricia Stenberg. Following a jury trial, the jury awarded plaintiff $4,000 for the “reasonable expense of necessary medical care,” $1,000 for lost wages but $0 for the “pain and suffering experienced.”

Plaintiff subsequently moved for a new trial on the issue of damages only, contending that it was irreconcilably inconsistent for the jury to award pain-related expenses as part of the medical expense award but nothing for…