Does the West Virginia Legislature Support Higher Civil Penalties for Killing Trees Than People?
February 10, 2015
Charleston, W.Va. – If the West Virginia Legislature passes its proposed cap on punitive damages, a person will pay a higher penalty for chopping down a tree or digging up a plant than a corporation will pay when its reckless or intentional wrongdoing hurts a West Virginia resident or business. Proposed SB 421 limits punitive damages to two times compensatory damages even in actions where an individual was killed. West Virginia law provides three times damages when you remove trees or plants from a property without permission (West Virginia Code, §61-3-48a)
“It says something about the priorities of this legislature, when the civil penalty for chopping down a tree is higher than the penalty for recklessly killing a West Virginia citizen,” said Anthony Majestro, president of the West Virginia Association for Justice.
In contrast to the proposed cap in SB 421, which places the multiplier at two times compensatory damages, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled in 2003 that punitive damages should not be more than nine times compensatory damages (State Farm Mutual Insurance Company v. Campbell).
“Punitive damages are the only way corporations can be held accountable when their reckless or intentional wrongdoing hurts an individual or harms a West Virginia small business. They are reserved for only the most egregious conduct—fraud, abuse of vulnerable citizens like children and the elderly, intentionally endangering workers or theft of intellectual property or trade secrets. Corporations can’t go to jail. Punitive damages ensure that they can be held accountable for their misconduct.”
“Punitive damages also keep us all safer. If corporations know that they will be held accountable in our courts and pay significant punitive damages for their misconduct, they are more likely to act responsibly. This disappears if the damages are so low that they’re like a slap on the wrist. Big corporations like General Motors, Allstate and Pfizer are worth billions. Some, like GM, even factor in possible punitive damages into its ‘cost of doing business.’ Punitive damages should at minimum remove any profit the company received from its misconduct as well as an additional amount high enough to make sure it doesn’t happen again. The punishment has to fit the crime—if it doesn’t, it’s like receiving a $5 ticket for driving 30 miles over the speed limit. When the penalty doesn’t make you think twice, you don’t care. ”
Punitive damages are rarely awarded because they are limited by the state and federal courts and must be reviewed in detail by the trial judge. In 2005, the most recent year studied by the U. S. Department of Justice, punitive damages were awarded in only five percent of the cases where the plaintiff prevailed. Eight percent of those cases involved contract cases, most of which were business v. business cases. The percentage of tort cases with punitive damages has been low for two decades—3.3 percent in 1996 and 3.6 percent in 2005. Both state and federal law require juries to consider the level of misconduct and the wrongdoer’s resources. Punitives cannot be used to bankrupt a company.
WVAJ AFFINITY PARTNERS
.jpg)
