Rate of Inflation is a Limiting Factor in Discounting Future Damages to Present Worth

Elijah Hagan was killed on August 30, 1974, in a railroad crossing accident involving Hagan's automobile and a Seaboard Coast Line Railroad train. Hagan was 46 years old at the date of his death and was survived by his five-year-old son Timothy Bankston. Hagan's son and estate brought suit for his wrongful death. At trial, plaintiffs were permitted to introduce expert testimony that inflation would continue at a minimum annual rate of 5% for the next thirteen years. Plaintiffs recovered judgment against the defendant railroad, and the railroad appealed, contesting the measure of damages used by the trial court. The Florida district court of appeal affirmed the judgment of the trial court and held that expert testimony on future changes in the purchasing power of the dollar was a proper method of assuring fair compensation to the plaintiff for future losses caused by defendant's negligence.