Douglas Kemper (Of Counsel, Louisville, KY) successfully defended Wilson Elser’s parking and transportation management company client before the Kentucky Court of Appeals, which affirmed the Jefferson County Circuit Court’s dismissal of loss of parental consortium claims arising from the death of a pedestrian who was struck by a bus during the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.

The appeal centered on whether Kentucky law should recognize loss of parental consortium claims brought by the decedent's adult children. Despite plaintiffs' counsels’ efforts to expand existing Kentucky law, the appellate court adopted Wilson Elser’s primary argument, holding that any expansion of loss of consortium claims to adult children is a policy decision reserved exclusively for the Kentucky General Assembly under Section 241 of the Kentucky Constitution.

In reaching its decision, the court distinguished between the development of spousal and parental loss of consortium claims under Kentucky jurisprudence. The court noted that spousal loss of consortium claims were created under common law as separate, stand-alone causes of action, whereas parental loss of consortium claims were created by statute as a specific element of a wrongful death claim. Because the governing statute limits those claims to minor children, the court concluded that any expansion to include adult children is a matter for the legislature, not the courts. As such, the appellate court affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of the adult children’s claim for loss of their father’s consortium.

The decision affirms an important limitation on the scope of loss of consortium claims in Kentucky. It reinforces the constitutional boundaries between the judiciary's role in interpreting the law and the legislature's authority to expand statutory causes of action.