If you suffer an injury that someone else caused, a personal injury claim arises in your favor. After all, why should you suffer the consequences of an injury that someone else caused? You can demand monetary damages for a personal injury claim.
Damages come in two forms – compensatory damages and punitive damages. Compensatory damages are routine, while punitive damages are extraordinary.
What Are Compensatory Damages?
Compensatory damages compensate you for your losses. They come in two varieties: economic damages and non-economic damages. Economic damages compensate you for tangible losses such as medical expenses and lost wages.
Non-economic damages compensate you for intangible losses such as pain and suffering. In all cases, the aim is to put you in as good a position as you would have been if the accident had never happened.
What Are Punitive Damages?
The purpose of punitive damages is not to compensate you for your losses, but to punish the defendant for particularly outrageous behavior.
There are two ultimate goals behind the award of punitive damages:
- Specific deterrence: To discourage the defendant from repeating their misbehavior.
- General deterrence: To discourage the general public from following the defendant’s example. The idea is that if people realize the consequences of following in the defendant’s footsteps, they will think twice before doing so.
Given this reasoning, you might assume that punitive damages would go to the government. Nevertheless, despite the sociopolitical purposes of awarding punitive damages, the money still goes into your bank account, not the government’s. Remember, punitive damages are not stand-alone. You can only win them if you also win compensatory damages.
Restrictions on the Types of Injuries That Qualify for Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are limited to specific circumstances. In fact, Louisiana’s limitations on punitive damages are among the strictest in the nation. The general rule is that Louisiana courts do not award punitive damages unless there is a statute that specifically permits them. Circumstances in which Louisiana courts allow punitive damages include:
- DUI accidents;
- Domestic abuse caused the victim’s injuries;
- The injury was a consequence of criminal sexual activity with a minor;
- The injury was caused by the storage or disposal of toxic waste.
- The defendant recklessly caused the death of the victim through hazing (strictly speaking, this is a wrongful death claim rather than a personal injury claim).
Remember, Louisiana courts are never obligated to award punitive damages. Under the above circumstances, however, they are permitted to award punitive damages.
Loopholes
Even if Louisiana does not allow punitive damages, you can escape Louisiana’s restrictions on punitive damages if:
- The injuries or the actions that produced them occurred in a state that allows punitive damages;
- The defendant lives in a state that allows punitive damages under the circumstances of your case; or
- The injury occurred on an oil platform in the ocean, and the case is governed by maritime law.
Louisiana courts lack jurisdiction to even hear some of the types of cases described above. When they can, however, Louisiana law does not apply to punitive damages.
Factors That Determine Eligibility for Punitive Damages
Courts will consider the following factors when adjudicating a claim for punitive damages:
- Did the defendant’s misconduct exhibit indifference or reckless disregard for public health and safety of the public?
- Was the defendant’s conduct malicious, or did it involve deceit?
- Was the defendant’s conduct an isolated incident or a pattern of behavior?
- How great was the magnitude of the harm done?
- How likely is it that the defendant will repeat the misconduct if the court does not impose punitive damages?
- Can the defendant afford to pay punitive damages? Since the goal of punitive damages is deterrence, a court will award higher punitive damages if the defendant could easily afford to pay a lower amount.
The more serious the defendant’s misconduct, the more likely it is that a court will award punitive damages, and the higher the amount a court is likely to award.
Special Case: Punitive Damages and Vicarious Liability Claims Against Employers
When it comes to compensatory damages, you can sue an employer for the consequences of the misconduct of an employee who was acting within the scope of their employment. If a delivery driver, for example, causes a car accident while on a delivery, you can sue not only the driver but their employer as well. This is known as vicarious liability, and it applies only to employees, not to independent contractors.
It’s a different story when you’re seeking punitive damages, at least in Louisiana. Louisiana courts are divided on whether employers can bear liability for punitive damages based on misconduct committed by their employees. Although the Louisiana Supreme Court has the authority to resolve this issue, it has not yet ruled on the matter.
Can You Negotiate Punitive Damages at the Settlement Table?
It is almost impossible to get a defendant to agree to punitive damages during negotiations. There are two main reasons for this:
- Insurance policies almost never cover punitive damages, which means that the defendant would have to pay punitive damages out of their own pocket.
- Since Louisiana courts so seldom award punitive damages in the first place, the defendant usually feels safe betting that the injury victim cannot win punitive damages at trial.
If you want punitive damages, you’re probably going to have to go to trial.
You Definitely Need a Lake Charles Personal Injury Lawyer if You Plan To Claim Punitive Damages
Louisiana courts are extremely reluctant to award punitive damages even if your eligibility for compensatory damages is clear. Hiring an experienced Lake Charles personal injury lawyer will not guarantee success—but it will greatly increase your chances. Contact Hale Injury Lawyers at (337) 888-4253 to schedule a free consultation with an experienced Lake Charles personal injury lawyer.
