Damages

A passenger injured in a car accident sued the county government and its insurers for damages. A statute limited the amount of damages that a government tortfeasor must pay, but not the amount a private tortfeasor would pay for the same accident. Abrahamson held that the legislature had a rational basis for limiting the damages a government tortfeasor must pay: it preserves public funds to ensure that the government can serve the citizenry. However, she further held that if the government tortfeasor has insurance coverage exceeding the statutory limit, the injured party may be compensated from that excess coverage.

A Wisconsin statute provided that in a personal injury action a plaintiff may recover punitive damages from a tortfeasor who showed “an intentional disregard of the rights of the plaintiff.” Writing for the majority, Abrahamson held that this statute requires the plaintiff to prove that the tortfeasor was aware that its conduct was substantially certain to result in a disregard of the plaintiff’s rights, not that the tortfeasor intended to cause the harm that the plaintiff suffered.