Are There Caps on Personal Injury Damages in Tennessee?

There are limits to your financial recovery in the Volunteer State

• Types of damages available in Tennessee
• Tennessee damage caps
• Workers’ compensation claims
• Comparative fault in Tennessee
• Challenges to Tennessee’s damage cap laws

The term “damage cap” refers to a law that limits the amount of compensation an injured person can recover in a lawsuit.

The purpose of a damage cap is to prevent juries from awarding excessive amounts of money and to prevent the costs of transacting business from becoming unreasonable.

Tennessee has damage caps but only on certain types of damages. Let’s take a closer look at the role of damage caps in Tennessee personal injury cases.

Types of damages available in Tennessee

In order to understand damage caps, it’s important to understand the types of damages that are available to accident victims in Tennessee.

Tennesseans can recover the following types of damages in a personal injury lawsuit:

• Economic damages. Economic damages are intended to compensate plaintiffs for the monetary losses caused by their accident. Common economic damages include medical expenses (hospital visits, surgeries, medications, etc.), lost income (past and future income lost as a result of the accident), and property damage.
• Non-economic damages. Non-economic damages are intended to compensate plaintiffs for the non-monetary consequences of your accident. Common non-economic damages include pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of consortium.
• Punitive damages. Punitive damages are intended to punish the defendant and are only available in cases where the defendant acted maliciously, fraudulently, or recklessly.

Tennessee damage caps

Tennessee does not cap economic damages. However, Tennessee does place a cap on non-economic damages in the amount of $750,000.

In cases where the plaintiff suffers “catastrophic injuries,” the $750,000 cap is increased to $1 million. Catastrophic injuries include:

• Spinal cord injuries
• Amputation of 2 hands, 2 feet, or 1 of each
• Third-degree burns over 40% or more of the body
• Wrongful death of the parent of a minor child

Additionally, Tennessee places a cap on punitive damages in the amount of $500,000—or twice the amount of the compensatory damages awarded, whichever is greater.

Workers’ compensation claims

Workers’ compensation claims are different from civil lawsuits. Tennessee’s damage cap applies to civil lawsuits, not workers’ compensation claims.

In a workers’ compensation claim, an injured employee is entitled to lifetime medical and compensation benefits, but the total compensation that can be awarded is capped by law depending on the date of the injury.

Comparative fault in Tennessee

Tennessee follows a “modified comparative fault rule,” which reduces the amount of damages a plaintiff can recover by their degree of fault. What’s more, if the plaintiff is determined to be 50% or more at fault, the plaintiff is barred from recovery ANY damages.

Let’s look at an example:

While the modified comparative fault rule isn’t technically a “damage cap,” it does represent a potential limitation to the amount of damages you can recover in a personal injury lawsuit.

Challenges to Tennessee’s damage cap laws

Tennessee, like most states, faces frequent challenges to its damage cap laws. In addition to the challenge to its non-economic damages cap discussed above, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals found that Tennessee’s statutory cap on punitive damages violated Tennessee’s constitution in 2018. However, Tennessee state courts are not required to abide by the federal court’s decision.

Such challenges to Tennessee’s damage cap laws underscore the fact that the law can change at any moment. Consequently, it’s important to talk to a lawyer before you file your lawsuit to see if any changes have occurred.

Want to get a better idea of how much your injury claim is worth? Use our free online directory to reach out to an experienced Tennessee attorney today.