Tennessee Gov. Haslam Offers Compromise on Damages Cap

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has offered a compromise on his proposal to limit lawsuit damages, drafting a change to the bill that would exempt catastrophic cases from the caps he wants to impose on most awards.

The Republican governor’s original bill, which is getting a warm reception in the GOP-controlled Legislature, would place a $750,000 cap on non-economic damages _ such as pain and emotional suffering — and punitive damages would be limited to $500,000.

The proposed amendment adds a “catastrophic loss provision” that would increase non-economic damages to $1,250,000 in “instances of a spinal cord injury resulting in paraplegia, hemiplegia, or quadriplegia, amputation, substantial burns and the death of a parent leaving minor children,” according to a summary of the proposal the governor’s office provided to The Associated Press.

AARP has been working against Haslam’s legislation because it’s concerned about the effects on elderly nursing home patients and their families who have been victimized by bad care.

Shelley Courington, advocacy director for AARP in Tennessee, said the cap on non-economic damages can be the “only recourse” when care is inadequate and it should be higher to make companies accountable.

“That is something that causes either the nursing home to make sure they’re doing the right thing, or it gives the family adequate recourse for what has happened to their family member,” said Courington, who’s reviewing the amendment.

Mary Mancini, executive director of Tennessee Citizen Action, a public interest and consumer advocacy organization, agreed companies need to be held accountable and that a jury should decide their fate.

“When you put an arbitrary cap on something, there’s no real incentive to hold large corporations accountable for any fraud or abuse,” Mancini said. “If they’re aware of what the cap is, they might let things like more training or more staff … kind of go by the wayside.”

Last week, former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee that a jury should decide how much is awarded and not state government.

Thompson, one of the most popular Republicans in Tennessee and hired by the Tennessee Association for Justice to lobby for the state’s trial lawyers, called the governor’s proposal “far-reaching” and unnecessary.

“Folks, we are about to kill a mouse with a bazooka,” said Thompson, who is also an actor.

Haslam, a Republican, has said the legislation is necessary because it is too attractive for lawyers to sue businesses in Tennessee and that could scare off potential businesses.

His amendment would change the awarding of non-economic damages from a “per occurrence” basis to a “per injured plaintiff” basis. It also would eliminate any limitation on such damages “in instances when the defendant committed an act that would constitute a felony or was under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs at the time the injury occurred.”

Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey said the governor’s proposed cap of $750,000 is “reasonable” considering other states have a cap of $250,000. Most states don’t have caps on areas other than medical malpractice.

“I don’t think we ought to be changing a lot or giving in a lot to those special interest groups like trial lawyers before we even get started,” said the Blountville Republican, adding that getting Thompson involved is “not going to change one vote in the General Assembly.”

Republican House Speaker Beth Harwell of Nashville, who calls Thompson a good friend, agreed.

“Ultimately, I think we are going to pass tort reform and I think it will be very similar to the package introduced by the governor,” she said.