Punitive damages are damages that a defendant in a civil action can be ordered to pay to punish him for egregious conducting including employment claims and personal injury.
Commonly, punitive damages can’t be awarded for a simple breach of contract, but can be awarded in cases such as insurance company bad faith when the company unlawfully refuses to pay a legitimate claim. California Civil Code Section 3294 allows a jury to award punitive damages to the plaintiff in a personal injury case. The plaintiff must be able to establish convincing and clear evidence that the defendant’s conduct amounted to oppression, malice or fraud.
California Civil Code Section 3294(c) gives the following definition to “malice,” “oppression” and “fraud”:
When dealing with a company as opposed to a private person, California Civil Code section 3294 states that the employer shouldn’t be legally liable for punitive damages, based upon acts of his employee, unless the employer had reasonable knowledge of the unfitness of the employee and hired him with a conscious disregard of the rights or safety of other people or ratified or authorized the illegal conduct for which the damages are awarded, or was personally guilty of fraud, oppression, or malice.
With respect to a corporate employer, the reasonable knowledge and conscious disregard, ratification, authorization, or act of oppression, malice or fraud must be on the part of the director, officer, or managing agent of the corporation.
Some common scenarios include the following:
According to CACI 3940 the jury considers several factors when deciding the amount of punitive damages. Here are some of them:
Truck accidents, often resulting in serious injuries and fatalities, have a profound impact on road safety. Preventing truck accidents is…
In the world of transportation, the trucking industry serves as a backbone for the movement of goods across the country.…
Truck accidents can have horrific results, including serious injuries, fatalities, and substantial legal repercussions. A number of well-known truck accident…
With its ability to move cargo over long distances and maintain the flow of the supply chain, the trucking industry…
Since we share the road with an increasing number of commercial trucks, it becomes imperative to understand the challenges faced…
Truck accidents are not just confined to traffic regulations. They often traverse into the complex territory of criminal liability. Understanding…