Tennessee law imposes limits, or "caps," on the amount of damages that can be awarded in personal injury and wrongful death cases. Compensatory damage caps are found in TCA 29-39-102. Punitive damage caps are found in TCA 29-39-104.
Compensatory damages include the “hard numbers” such as lost wages, medical expenses, loss of earnings, or any other type of damage(s) that can be quantified. Compensatory damages also include non-economic damages such as pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and emotional suffering. The non-economic damages, with limited exceptions, are capped in Tennessee.
In Tennessee, the cap on non-economic damages is $750,000. However, this cap increases to $1,000,000 in cases involving catastrophic injuries, such as severe burns, amputation, paralysis, or the wrongful death of a parent with minor children. The statute governing these caps is found in TCA 29-39-102. The statute goes into greater detail for the $1,000,000 exception.
There are times when the non-economic damages caps are lifted. Under subsection (h), there are four scenarios where the non-economic damages do not apply. These scenarios involve an intent to inflict serious bodily injury to someone; falsifying, destroying or concealing information in order to evade liability; when the defendant is under the influence of an intoxicant; or, the conduct of the defendant resulted in a felony conviction.
Switching gears; in Tennessee, there are punitive damages caps as well. Punitive damages are designed to punish the defendant for the defendant’s conduct. There are specific circumstances where punitive damages may be awarded. Punitive damages cannot be awarded in every case.
The punitive damages caps are found at TCA 29-39-104. Tennessee law caps punitive damages at two times the amount of the compensatory damages awarded or $500,000, whichever is greater. There are exceptions to the punitive damages caps as well. They are the same exceptions that “remove” the caps for compensatory damages and are found in (a)(7) in 29-39-104.
Tommy Santel is a co-founding partner of Santel | Garner. Tommy is a former government prosecutor. He is a Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 31 General Civil Mediator and his practice areas include criminal defense and civil litigation.
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