Punitive Damages in Wrongful Death Cases Provide Justice for Victims’ Families

Punitive damages, while rare, serve to punish defendants for their reckless or intentional conduct. For decades, only those injured by such reprehensible conduct could seek punitive damages against those who caused the injury. Now, under the new Wrongful Death Act and Survival Act, family members of those killed by such conduct will be allowed to seek punitive damages.

What are Punitive Damages?

Punitive damages are separate and distinct from compensatory damages. Compensatory damages serve to compensate victims for their losses (medical care, lost wages, pain/suffering, loss of enjoyment of life). Punitive damages serve to punish and deter conduct that is particularly reprehensible, such as reckless or intentional behavior. When punitive damages are available to punish defendants and deter others from similar conduct, people’s behavior changes. The public is made safer.

Then vs. Now

Before the Wrongful Death Act and Survival Act was signed into law, if a woman was killed in a car crash by a drunk driver, the woman’s next of kin could not pursue punitive damages. On the other hand, if that same woman survived the crash, the woman could pursue punitive damages. The defendant’s conduct was the same in both instances. However, under the old law, if the victim died the accountability of the drunk driver falls by the wayside.

The Wrongful Death Act and Survival Act rectifies that glaring inequity in the law. In the event of a defendants reckless or intentional conduct results in a victim’s death, the new law allows the decedent’s surviving spouse or next of kin to seek punitive damages in the same manner that injured victims were allowed.

Benefits of the Wrongful Death Act and Survival Act

In circumstances where a defendant’s conduct rises to the level of warranting punitive damages, those damages are enshrined in statue as a necessary tool to punish the defendant and deter similar conduct from reoccurring.

The families of victims that are killed by the inexcusable conduct of a defendant are now afforded the chance to achieve transformational change in our society in the same manner as injury victims. When a loved one is lost due to the reckless or intentional conduct of a defendant, the grieving family is now allowed to pursue punitive damages in order to ensure their loved one did not die in vain. Our laws are designed to compensate victims and disincentivize bad behavior – and this new law serves the latter goal in those cases where the harm is worst of all.

PDF Fact Sheet: Punitive Damages in Wrongful Death Cases Provide Justice for Victims' Families