If you have been injured in an accident in Oklahoma, you may be thinking about filing a personal injury lawsuit to try to recover your damages. If so, it may be helpful for you to understand the types of damages that are recoverable and whether there are any caps on the amount of those recoverable damages. Damages can be divided by type: economic, non-economic, and non-compensatory damages. Punitive damages are included as non-compensatory damages. Okla. Stat. tit. 23 § 61.2
Compensatory Damages: Economic and Non-economic Damages
Damages are basically either compensatory or non-compensatory. Compensatory damages are those that are meant to compensate the victim. Non-compensatory damages include other types of recoverable damages.
Compensatory damages can be broken down into either economic damages or non-economic damages. Economic damages are those types of damages that have a money amount associated with them. These include such things as medical expenses, property damages, lost wages, and the like. All of these types of damages have a specified amount of money associated with the damage.
Noneconomic damages do not have a specified amount associated with them. They include such things as pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of companionship, and the like. These damages are often awarded to a plaintiff and are at the discretion of the jury or judge awarding them.
Non-Compensatory Damages
Non-compensatory damages are often awarded to a plaintiff but are not meant to compensate the plaintiff for their damages. These are often called punitive or exemplary damages. They are meant to punish the defendant’s behavior and to deter that behavior in the future.
Limitations on Damages
Oklahoma has some caps or limitations on the amounts of certain types of damages that may be awarded. In most personal injury cases, a plaintiff may recover all of their economic damages and up to $350,000 of non-economic damages regardless of the number of defendants or the number of actions brought by the plaintiff. Okla. Stat. tit. 23 § 61.2.
However, there is no limit on the amount of non-economic damages that may be awarded to a plaintiff in a negligence case if the judge and jury find, by clear and convincing evidence, that the defendant’s acts or failures to act were:
In reckless disregard for the rights of others;
Caps on Punitive Damages
Punitive damages may be awarded when the fact-finder determines that the defendant acted either in reckless disregard for the rights of others; or with reckless disregard in the case of an insurer’s actions toward its insured party. This usually includes behavior that is wanton, reckless, the result of fraud or intentional harm,
In all cases in which punitive damages are awarded, they are capped at an amount not to exceed the greater of:
- $100,000.00, or
- the amount of the actual damages awarded. Okla. Stat. tit. 23 § 9.1.
Factors in Punitive Damages Awards
In determining how much to award in punitive damages, the fact-finder may consider:
- The seriousness of the public hazard arising from the defendant’s misconduct;
- The profitability of the defendant’s misconduct;
- The duration of the misconduct and any concealment of it;
- The degree of the defendant’s awareness of the hazard and of its excessiveness;
- The attitude and conduct of the defendant upon discovery of the misconduct or hazard;
- In the case of a defendant which is a corporation or other entity, the number and level of employees involved in causing or concealing the misconduct; and
- The financial condition of the defendant. Okla. Stat. tit. 23 § 9.1.
Punitive damages are an important part of the legal process. They deter bad corporate behavior in a way that economic damages do not. If you think you might be entitled to punitive damages, seek the help of an experienced Tulsa personal injury attorney.
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