Another Titanic Question

[dolphinboy]

Did the relatives of those who perished on the Titanic sue White Star Lines for negligence and win in court? If so, what were the damages awarded?

I realize that people didn’t sue as much back then as they do now, or perhaps they signed something that released White Star of responsibility.

[Northern_Piper]

Actually lawsuits started being filed as soon as the survivors dried off:

Lawsuits, The Titanic: A Sue-happy Society in 1912

The historical record shows that the survivors and the families of the victims evidently thought lawsuit almost as soon as they dried off or heard the news.

For American litigants, a lot rode on the question of which nation’s law was governing. If British law applied (because the ship was flying the British flag), then the Oceanic Steam Navigation Co., the Titanic’s owner, would be liable for as much as $2 million. If American law governed (under an 1800s law passed to protect American shipowners), the total maximum damage award would be a mere $96,000. In 1914, two years after the disaster, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of American law and the shipping company.

Within a year of the disaster, survivors and victims’ relatives had filed $13 million in claims, a figure that meant a lot more then. Neither rich nor poor were too shy to come forward, nor did gratitude for their miraculous survival preclude survivors from seeking recompense for every penny in property loss. Mabelle Moore sought half a million dollars for the loss of her husband and an additional $10,000 for the property he had on board. Mary Holverson wanted only $100,000 for the loss of her husband and $974 for his baggage but tacked on another $920 to erect a monument in his honor. Clara Frauenthal sought more than $20,000 for her diamond, sapphire and pearl jewelry. Then there was Mary McGovern, who initially wanted only $50 for two sunken Irish crochet collars. But after attending court hearings on the suit, she upped her claim to $70 to cover her time. As far as I can tell, Rose never tried to collect on behalf of Jack.

[aldiboronti]

I’m not sure that title “sue-happy society” is apt. Surely the owners were at fault and compensation was certainly due.

[Schnitte]

A hair-splitting nitpick: They couldn’t have sued for negligence, since that legal basis for claims for compensation in tort wasn’t recognised in English law until the seminal 1932 case of Donoghue v Stevenson. They would probably have sued on a contractual basis, with the additional twist that you would have to construe a contractual claim of those who died under contract which then passed on to their heirs by means of succession, since the relatives would, in most cases, not be in a contractual relationship with White Star themselves.

[Northern_Piper]

@aldiboronti

I’m not sure that title “sue-happy society” is apt. Surely the owners were at fault and compensation was certainly due.

The title is based on the opening paragraph, which indicates that as the writer and his friends left the theatre after watching Titanic, his friends assumed that if it had happened today, there would have been many more lawsuits.

In essence, he’s simply rebutting the common assumption that people today are more litigious than they were a century ago, which simply isn’t the case; the Titanic litigation is a good example.