Hoilett v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.

By Judge H. Vincent Conway, Jr.

The issue before the court, on motion of the defendants, is whether the Maryland limitation on non-economic damages in wrongful death actions should be applied in a Virginia wrongful death action under the doctrine of lex loci.

As alleged in the complaint, the plaintiff’s decedent, a Virginia resident, died in an accident on July 6, 2007, on Interstate 70, near Hagerstown, Maryland, when a Goodyear tire malfunctioned on a 2001 Ford Explorer, purchased in Virginia, went out of control, left the roadway, and crashed. The manufacturers of the car and tire, as well…