Roberts v. Stevens Clinic Hospital, Inc.

Kenneth and Joyce Roberts, along with their two living children (plaintiffs), sued Stevens Clinic Hospital, Inc. (Stevens) after a surgical mistake led to the wrongful death of their two-year-old son, Michael. Stevens had a $10 million insurance policy for the claim. Before trial, Michael’s family offered to settle the claim for $5 million. Stevens waited two months and then made a $100,000 counteroffer the day before trial. Stevens increased the offer to $125,000 the next day. At trial, the family presented evidence that Michael had been a healthy, intelligent, and loved child and that his death had broken the family. Despite an objection from Stevens, this evidence included a video presentation with photos and video clips of Michael and his family, audio clips of Michael’s voice, and audio clips of Michael’s mother singing and talking to him. After seeing the family’s evidence, Stevens increased its settlement offer to $220,000. During closing arguments, the family’s attorney argued that the jury needed to place a value on Michael’s life. The attorney argued that Michael’s family never would have agreed to trade his life for $10 million and noted that the space program spends billions to preserve a single life. The jury returned a verdict against Stevens for $10 million. Stevens appealed. On appeal, the court took note of the fact that only 6 percent of serious cases are tried by a jury.