Understanding Punitive Damages in Virginia Personal Injury Cases

 

Learn When Punitive Damages are Available, How Courts Calculate Them, and What Caps Apply

 

The largest jury verdicts and reported settlements in personal injury cases often include an award of punitive damages or the risk of one.

 

For example, earlier this week, a jury in Georgia found the Ford Motor Company liable for $2.5 billion in punitive damages for a rollover crash involving an F-250 Super Duty truck. And in September 2024, a Richmond Circuit Court jury awarded three women tens of millions of dollars in punitive damages against Cumberland Hospital in New Kent County in a sexual abuse case.

 

Courts in Virginia likewise have the power to order a defendant to pay punitive damages to a successful plaintiff in a tort lawsuit. Such an award is in addition to compensatory damages meant to make you whole after a car crash, construction site accident, truck collision, or injury from a defective product.

 

But proving punitive damages are warranted is challenging in Virginia. You must develop and present specific evidence of egregious behavior to get them.

 

This article explains how to get an award of punitive damages in Virginia and what statutory caps apply.

 

Continue reading to learn more.

 

And call (804) 251-1620 or complete this form to speak to a top-ranked personal injury attorney. A top-ranked attorney with Corey Pollard Law can help you get the damages award or settlement you deserve. 

 

What are Punitive Damages?

 

Judges and juries award punitive damages, also called exemplary damages, to punish the defendant and protect the public by warning and deterring the defendant and others from acting similarly in the future.

 

Punitive damages have nothing to do with your worthiness or actual injuries. Their goal is not to make you whole by replacing what you have lost because of someone else. Instead, punitive damages make an example of the defendant to deter conduct.

 

Virginia Model Civil Jury Instruction No. 9.080 explains this general purpose: to punish the defendant for his actions and to serve as an example to deter him and others from acting in a similar way.

 

Do I Have to Choose Between Compensatory and Punitive Damages?

 

No.

 

You can recover compensatory and punitive damages in the same lawsuit. Compensatory damages are meant to make you whole. They may include payment for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, permanent impairment of the injured body parts, and diminished earning capacity.

 

Common Law Punitive Damages vs. Statutory Punitive Damages

 

The common law (judge-made law) and statutes (laws enacted by the legislature) provide for punitive damages.

 

In Virginia, courts allow punitive damages when the evidence shows misconduct or actual malice, recklessness, or gross negligence evincing a conscious disregard for others’ rights. Actual malice means a sinister or corrupt motive such as ill will, spite, or hatred. For example, judges and juries for intentional tort actions with evidence of ill will or spite are more likely to award punitive damages.

 

Unfortunately, the law does not favor punitive damages awards unless the General Assembly explicitly authorizes them. Unless the defendant’s act or omission shows fraud, oppression, malice, or other bad motivations, only compensatory damages are available; the courts will not allow punitive damages.

 

Examples of conduct that courts may find warrants an award of punitive damages include the following:

 

    • A driver races down a neighborhood street at more than 100 miles per hour, striking a child crossing the road to play with a friend.

 

    • A landlord knows that some of the building’s exits are blocked, with no way out. A fire occurs, trapping several people inside and causing multiple burn injuries.

 

    • A daycare knows the teachers in its infants’ classroom drink before work. Both teachers fall asleep while intoxicated and on the clock, resulting in a daycare injury for two of the babies.

 

    • A busy retail store leaves inventory scattered in the aisles, causing an elderly customer to suffer a traumatic brain injury when they slip and fall.

 

    • A trucking company tells its drivers to ignore federal safety regulations limiting the number of hours they can drive, resulting in a trucker falling asleep behind the wheel and crashing into and killing the driver and passenger of a smaller vehicle on Interstate 64.

 

These examples are just some situations where you may recover punitive damages.

 

In contrast, statutory punitive damages are easier to obtain.

 

As the Supreme Court of Virginia said in Cain v. Lee, Record No. 141105 (June 4, 2015), the General Assembly has explicitly approved statutory punitive damages in some situations. For example, Code Section 8.01-44.5 allows the finder of fact to award punitive damages to a plaintiff injured by an intoxicated driver with specific blood alcohol content levels or who refused to submit to a blood alcohol content test.

 

Knowing whether you must plead and prove punitive damages under common law theories or specific statutes will help you evaluate the likelihood of receiving such an award.

 

Do I Have to Prove Actual Harm to Receive Punitive Damages?

 

Yes – with one exception.

 

Courts will not uphold a punitive damages award unless the jury also awards compensatory or nominal damages.

 

But an exception exists.

 

Appellate courts may uphold an award of punitive damages in cases involving an injury to reputation (defamation, libel, and slander), even when the plaintiff does not recover compensatory or nominal damages.

 

Calculating Punitive Damages: Is There a Limit on the Amount I Can Receive?

 

Yes and no.

 

The fact finder, usually the jury, can award whatever punitive damages it deems proper. No statute details how a jury should arrive at a punitive damages figure.

 

And often the amount of punitive damages exceeds the amount of compensatory damages.

 

That said, two things often limit the amount awarded.

 

First, the Supreme Court of Virginia has held that the amount of punitive damages should have a reasonable relationship to the compensatory damages and the defendant’s behavior and ability to pay the award.

 

Second, Virginia Code Section 8.01-38.1, Limitation on recovery of punitive damages, caps punitive damages at $350,000. The judge will reduce the award if the jury verdict exceeds that amount (a procedure called remittitur).

 

Why Should You Let Us Represent You in a Personal Injury Case?

 

You only get one shot at a full recovery when someone else’s acts or omissions harm you.

 

Failing to recover all the compensatory and punitive damages owed now means you lose them forever.

 

Don’t miss out on money that will help you live the best life possible after a severe injury caused by someone else.

 

Our law firm has the knowledge, skill, experience, and resources to take on any company or insurer. In addition, we can help you pursue all potential legal remedies arising from the injury, including workers’ compensation, long-term disability, Social Security disability, and compensation through the criminal victims’ fund.

 

Contact us today to see if we will accept representation. We help accident victims throughout Virginia.

Corey Pollard
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