Schmatt v. Arenz

UHLENHOPP, Justice.

We have here to decide whether plaintiff in a rear-end automobile collision case should have a new trial on the ground the jury awarded inadequate damages and if so whether the second trial should be on damages alone.

Plaintiff Mrs. Harmie Schmatt, born in 1914, is a waitress. Since 1954 she has been employed from time to time at a cafe now called Ole’s Ham’n Egger in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Prior to and in 1964, she had some low back trouble and was treated for it.

On September 27, 1965, plaintiff stayed with her mother-in-law who was ill with a stroke. Paul Zahn worked with her…