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20 La. L. Rev. 731 (1959-1960)
The Wife's Cause of Action for Loss of Consortium

handle is hein.journals/louilr20 and id is 751 raw text is: COMMENTS that foreign bases be manned in the most efficient manner. It is submitted that questions of discipline, as well as of morale and security, are relevant considerations in this area. It appears that these decisions could have been avoided by using the Necessary and Proper Clause to sustain military juris- diction over employees and dependents. The cases seem unfor- tunate when viewed against the lack of practicable answers to the problem of where these persons will be tried and the unsatis- factory consequences which will probably flow from the adoption of any of the available solutions. James A. George The Wife's Cause of Action for Loss of Consortium Prior to 1950 the right of a wife to recover for loss of con- sortium resulting from the negligent injury of her husband by a third person was not recognized.2 In that year, however, in the landmark case of Hitaffer v. Argonne Co.,3 the Court of Ap- peal for the District of Columbia recognized the wife's right to such recovery. This decision has resulted in an extensive re- examination of the question by courts in many other jurisdic- tions. It is the purpose of this Comment to determine the pres- ent status of this right and to examine the bases of the decisions. The concept of consortium originated in the early common law as a right in the husband to the material services of his wife.4 With the passage of time, this concept was expanded to include other components of the marriage relation- society, sexual relations, and conjugal affection. At common law the hus- band's interest was protected against such interferences with the 1. Consortium has been defined as conjugal fellowship of husband and wife, and the right of each to the company, cooperation, affection, and aid of the other in every conjugal relation. BLACK'S LAW DICTIoNARY (4th ed. 1957). 2. See note 15 infra. 3. 183 F.2d 811 (D.C. Cir. 1950), cert. denied, 340 U.S. 852 (1950). There were two major holdings of the Hitaffer decision - (1) a wife has a cause of action for loss of consortium resulting from negligent injury of her husband by a third person, and (2) that this right was not barred by the exclusive remedy provision of the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act. The second holding has been overruled subsequently. See note 20 infra. 4. See 3 BLACKSTONE, COMMENTARIES *139; Lippman, The Breakdown of Con- aortium, 30 COLUm. L. REv. 651 (1930). 5. See PROSSER, TORTS 683 (2d ed. 1955) ; Holbrook, The Change in the Mean- ing of Con8ortium, 22 MICH. L. REV. 1, 2 (1923) ; Lippman, The Breakdown of Conaortium, 30 COLUM. L. REV. 651, 662 (1930). These three aspects have been labeled the sentimental components of marriage. 19601

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