Punitive Damage Awards in Indiana
In a personal injury case, most plaintiffs are seeking damages to compensate them for an injury caused by another party. For example, in a simple car crash an injured driver might seek money from the negligent driver to pay for his medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering. These monetary awards are called compensatory damages as they compensate the injured party for the harm they suffered.
In some instances, courts will also award a plaintiff with punitive damages. Punitive damages are not meant to compensate the victim but rather are meant to punish the guilty party. In these instances, a plaintiff can receive a higher damage amount than the injuries they sustained in order to deter the defendant from acting in the same manner again. Punitive damages can typically be obtained only when the wrongdoer's behavior is especially egregious and our society deems it necessary to penalize them with excess damages. To obtain a punitive damage award in Indiana, a plaintiff must show more than mere negligence on the part of the defendant and prove with "clear and convincing" evidence that he "acted with malice, fraud, gross negligence or oppressiveness." This is a rather high standard.
However, with the growing support in the tort reform movement, many jurisdictions have shied away from awarding excess punitive damages and have even placed caps or limits on the amount of punitive damage awards. Like many states, Indiana has adopted its own punitive damage statute that limits both the amount of punitive damages that can be awarded and the amount the plaintiff can receive from the judgment.
