Louisiana State Senate Fails to Pass Bill to Allow Punitive Damages
Louisiana is one of the few states that generally disallows the award of punitive damages in tort actions. There are exceptions for certain claims against drunk drivers and perpetrators of sex crimes against minors, but these exist only at the pleasure of the state legislature. An exception for intentional torts involving the handling of toxic substances came about in 1984, but was repealed in 1996. During those years, La. Civil Code Art. 2315.3 provided that
In addition to general and special damages, exemplary [punitive] damages may be awarded, if it is proved that plaintiff's
injuries were caused by the defendant's wanton or reckless disregard for public safety in the storage, handling, or transportation of hazardous or toxic substances.
High punitive damages are thought to deter bad conduct. Punitive damage awards are often permitted in other states against corporate defendants. The theory is that merely compensating a victim for his or her actual damages may have very little effect on the "bottom line" of a large company. On the other hand, punitive damages, potentially reach into the millions of dollars, can make the company suffer meaningful consequences for its wrongful actions.
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster no doubt brought quickly to the minds of many Louisiana residents and lawmakers the realization that, without a statutory exception, punitive damages would not be available to victims in any common tort action against BP or the other companies involved. By what appears to be a striking coincidence, on March 29, 2010, approximately a month before the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank into the Gulf, State Senator Robert Marionneaux, Jr. introduced Bill 547. The bill contained the following provision:
"In addition to general and special damages, exemplary damages may be awarded, if it is proved that the plaintiff's injuries were caused by the defendant's wanton or reckless disregard for public safety in the drilling, equipping, operating, or producing of an oil or gas well, or in the commercial storage, handling, or transportation of oil, gas, product of oil or gas, or hazardous or toxic substance."
On June 16, 2010, the bill was defeated after a debate on the Senate floor by at vote of four "yeas" and 30 "nays."
This result may seem surprising given the current climate of understandable outrage over the Gulf oil spill disaster, but it is consistent with Louisiana's historical aversion to punitive damages in all but the most egregious of tort cases. The unavailability of punitive damages does not mean that victims of the oil spill or any other accident are without recourse, but it makes clear that plaintiffs must thoroughly and completely substantiate their actual losses to ensure that compensatory damage awards will truly make them whole.
