By Marlene DiGiacomo
News Focus
What is a homemaker worth?
To her family, she’s priceless. But to the woman herself, the mundane duties of cooking, ironing and scrubbing floors may not seem as valuable as a job outside the home.
However, a two-woman and six-man federal jury doesn’t agree.
The jury recently awarded $5.7 million to the widower and four children of a Delaware County homemaker killed in a December car accident in Radnor.
A. Roy DeCaro, the attorney who represented the family of Florence J. Gormley, 51, described the verdict as “significant” because of the worth it placed on the homemaking skills and value of the victim.
“I believe this verdict is the highest of its kind in the United States involving a homemaker,” DeCaro said.
The verdict was handed down earlier this month in Philadelphia by the federal panel against a New York-based package delivery company.
Mrs. Gormley had raised four children ranging in ages from 18 to 28, including a recently married daughter and a child who will soon be going to college.
DeCaro described the victim as an “exceptional woman” who was also involved in a number of charitable activities including serving as president of the Mothers Guild at Sacred Heart Academy and coordinator of the girls’ tennis team at the Overbrook Country Club.
“The jury awarded $1.8 million as compensatory damages in the death of Mrs. Gormley. The jury did not discount the fact that this particular homemaker did not work for wages through her 29 years of marriage,” DeCaro said.
“The jury was asked to consider what a wife is worth. Her husband has lost the woman he spent 29 years with. She won’t be with him in his twilight years.
“A recently married daughter was deprived of the advice of her mother as was her college-bound sister.”
DeCaro referred to the duties performed by Mrs. Gormley including laundress, psychologist, bookkeeper, accountant and nurse.
“This verdict places a substantial value on the worth of a homemaker in modern America,” he said.
The suit was filed on behalf of the Gormley family against the Choice Couriers Systems, Inc., after the victim’s car was struck head-on by a van driven by a courier.
DeCaro said the accident occurred when a van driven by Joel Julien crossed into the homemaker’s lane at the intersection of Weldon Road and Bryn Mawr Avenue on Dec. 9.
“The van at this time was owned by Julien who was making interstate deliveries on behalf of Choice Courier Systems, Inc. The evidence demonstrated that Julien was operating the van with bald tires,” DeCaro said. “The evidence further showed that Choice Courier Systems, Inc. never inspected the van or any of the other 400 vans that it uses throughout the eastern part of the United States.”
DeCaro said the verdict sent a message to other companies that “they must inspect their vehicles before they unleash them on the public.”
The verdict is being appealed, but DeCaro said the finding also sent a clear message “that the value of a homemaker can not be discounted.”