Statutory Cap on Damages

The Firm successfully defended a constitutional attack on an Alabama statute which mandates that the recovery of damages against public transportation authorities be limited to $100,000.00 for bodily injury or death.

The plaintiff (who claimed to be the victim of a sexual assault by an employee of an Alabama transit authority) argued (1) that the Alabama Legislature lacked the power to enact a statute providing for such immunity for public transportation authorities, and (2) that the subject statute and damages limitation in it violated her constitutional rights to trial by jury, access to the courts, and due process of law.

The court disagreed. In a well-reasoned and lengthy opinion, the court concluded that the statute is a valid exercise of the Legislature’s authority and that the plaintiff failed to prove that the limitation on the recovery of damages against a public transportation authority is unconstitutional. Terry Sides handled the case for the Firm.