Text: S03107                            Text: S03109
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Senate Amendment 3108

Amendment Text

PAG LIN
  1  1    Amend Senate File 344 as follows:
  1  2    #1.  By striking page 1, line 10, through page 20,
  1  3 line 13, and inserting the following:
  1  4    "Sec.    .  Section 625A.9, Code 2003, is amended
  1  5 to read as follows:
  1  6    625A.9  EXECUTION ON UNSTAYED PART OF JUDGMENT –
  1  7 SUPERSEDEAS BOND WAIVED.
  1  8    1.  The taking of the appeal from part of a
  1  9 judgment or order, and the filing of a bond as above
  1 10 directed, does not stay execution as to that part of
  1 11 the judgment or order not appealed from.
  1 12    2.  If the judgment or order appealed from is for
  1 13 money, such bond shall not exceed any of the following
  1 14 amounts, excluding costs:
  1 15    a.  One hundred percent of the amount of the money
  1 16 judgment up to and including one million dollars.
  1 17    b.  One million dollars plus ten percent of the
  1 18 amount above one million dollars, if the amount of the
  1 19 money judgment is in excess of one million dollars, up
  1 20 to and including one hundred million dollars.
  1 21    c.  Twenty-five million dollars, if the amount of
  1 22 the money judgment is in excess of one hundred million
  1 23 dollars.
  1 24    3.  Upon motion and for good cause shown, the
  1 25 district court may stay all proceedings under the
  1 26 order or judgment being appealed and permit the state
  1 27 or any of its political subdivisions to appeal a
  1 28 judgment or order to the supreme court without the
  1 29 filing of a supersedeas bond.
  1 30    Sec.    .  Section 668.4, Code 2003, is amended to
  1 31 read as follows:
  1 32    668.4  JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY.
  1 33    In actions brought under this chapter, the rule of
  1 34 joint and several liability shall not apply to
  1 35 defendants who are found to bear less than fifty
  1 36 percent of the total fault assigned to all parties.
  1 37 However, a defendant found to bear fifty percent or
  1 38 more of fault shall only be jointly and severally
  1 39 liable for economic damages and not for any
  1 40 noneconomic damage awards.
  1 41    Sec.    .  Section 668.12, Code 2003, is amended to
  1 42 read as follows:
  1 43    668.12  LIABILITY FOR PRODUCTS – STATE OF THE ART
  1 44 DEFENSE DEFENSES.
  1 45    1.  In any action brought pursuant to this chapter
  1 46 against an assembler, designer, supplier of
  1 47 specifications, distributor, manufacturer, or seller
  1 48 for damages arising from an alleged defect in the
  1 49 design, testing, manufacturing, formulation,
  1 50 packaging, warning, or labeling of a product, a
  2  1 percentage of fault shall not be assigned to such
  2  2 persons if they plead and prove that the product
  2  3 conformed to the state of the art in existence at the
  2  4 time the product was designed, tested, manufactured,
  2  5 formulated, packaged, provided with a warning, or
  2  6 labeled.
  2  7    2.  Nothing contained in this section subsection 1
  2  8 shall diminish the duty of an assembler, designer,
  2  9 supplier of specifications, distributor, manufacturer
  2 10 or seller to warn concerning subsequently acquired
  2 11 knowledge of a defect or dangerous condition that
  2 12 would render the product unreasonably dangerous for
  2 13 its foreseeable use or diminish the liability for
  2 14 failure to so warn.
  2 15    3.  An assembler, designer, supplier of
  2 16 specifications, distributor, manufacturer, or seller
  2 17 shall not be subject to liability for failure to warn
  2 18 regarding risks and risk-avoidance measures that
  2 19 should be obvious to, or generally known by,
  2 20 foreseeable product users.  When reasonable minds may
  2 21 differ as to whether the risk or risk-avoidance
  2 22 measure was obvious or generally known, the issues
  2 23 shall be decided by the trier of fact.
  2 24    4.  In any action brought pursuant to this chapter
  2 25 against an assembler, designer, supplier of
  2 26 specifications, distributor, manufacturer, or seller
  2 27 for damages arising from an alleged defect in
  2 28 packaging, warning, or labeling of a product, a
  2 29 product bearing or accompanied by a warning or
  2 30 instruction that is reasonably safe for use if the
  2 31 warning or instruction is followed shall not be deemed
  2 32 defective or unreasonably dangerous on the basis of
  2 33 failure to warn or instruct.
  2 34    5.  In any action brought pursuant to this chapter
  2 35 against an assembler, designer, supplier of
  2 36 specifications, distributor, manufacturer, or seller
  2 37 for damages arising from an alleged defect in the
  2 38 design which allegedly enhanced injuries, or any
  2 39 action alleging the crashworthiness of a product,
  2 40 evidence of the user's or injured person's fault shall
  2 41 be admissible and, subject to the provisions of
  2 42 section 668.2, shall be compared if such fault was a
  2 43 substantial factor in causing the underlying accident
  2 44 or event producing any injury to the claimant,
  2 45 including an enhanced injury.
  2 46    6.  An assembler, designer, supplier of
  2 47 specifications, distributor, manufacturer, or seller
  2 48 shall not be subject to liability under a theory of
  2 49 civil conspiracy unless such persons knowingly entered
  2 50 into a conspiracy with an intent to commit an unlawful
  3  1 act which causes harm.
  3  2    Sec.    .  Section 668A.1, subsection 1, Code 2003,
  3  3 is amended to read as follows:
  3  4    1.  In a trial of a claim involving the request for
  3  5 punitive or exemplary damages, the court shall
  3  6 instruct the jury to answer special interrogatories
  3  7 or, if there is no jury, shall make findings,
  3  8 indicating all of the following:
  3  9    a.  Whether, by a preponderance of clear, and
  3 10 convincing, and satisfactory evidence, the conduct of
  3 11 the defendant from which the claim arose constituted
  3 12 willful and wanton disregard for the rights or safety
  3 13 of another.
  3 14    b.  Whether the conduct of the defendant was
  3 15 directed specifically at the claimant, or at the
  3 16 person from which the claimant's claim is derived.
  3 17    c.  Whether, by a preponderance of clear and
  3 18 convincing evidence, the conduct of the defendant from
  3 19 which the claim arose constituted actual malice.
  3 20    Sec.    .  Section 668A.1, subsection 2, paragraph
  3 21 b, Code 2003, is amended to read as follows:
  3 22    b.  If the answer or finding pursuant to subsection
  3 23 1, paragraph "b", is negative, after payment of all
  3 24 applicable costs and fees, an amount not to exceed
  3 25 twenty-five percent of the punitive or exemplary
  3 26 damages awarded may be ordered paid to the claimant,
  3 27 with the remainder of the award to be ordered paid
  3 28 into a civil reparations trust fund administered by
  3 29 the state court administrator.  Attorney fees shall
  3 30 not be recoverable on any punitive or exemplary
  3 31 damages award to be ordered paid to the civil
  3 32 reparations trust fund.  Funds placed in the civil
  3 33 reparations trust shall be under the control and
  3 34 supervision of the executive council, and shall be
  3 35 disbursed only for purposes of indigent civil
  3 36 litigation programs or insurance assistance programs.
  3 37 The state court administrator shall file a report with
  3 38 the general assembly for each fiscal year, relating to
  3 39 the administration of the fund.
  3 40    Sec.    .  NEW SECTION.  668A.2  DEFINITIONS.
  3 41    As used in this chapter, the following terms shall
  3 42 have the following meanings:
  3 43    1.  "Clear and convincing evidence" means evidence
  3 44 which leaves no serious or substantial doubt about the
  3 45 correctness of the conclusions drawn from the
  3 46 evidence.  It is more than a preponderance of
  3 47 evidence, but less than beyond a reasonable doubt.
  3 48    2.  "Malice" means either conduct which is
  3 49 specifically intended by the defendant to cause
  3 50 tangible or intangible serious injury to the plaintiff
  4  1 or conduct that is carried out by the defendant both
  4  2 with a flagrant indifference to the rights of the
  4  3 plaintiff and with a subjective awareness that such
  4  4 conduct will result in tangible serious injury.
  4  5    Sec.    .  NEW SECTION.  668A.3  AWARD OF PUNITIVE
  4  6 OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES – PROOF – STANDARD.
  4  7    Punitive or exemplary damages shall only be awarded
  4  8 where the plaintiff proves by clear and convincing
  4  9 evidence that the plaintiff's harm was the result of
  4 10 actual malice.  This burden of proof shall not be
  4 11 satisfied by proof of any degree of negligence,
  4 12 including gross negligence.
  4 13    Sec.    .  NEW SECTION.  668A.4  PUNITIVE OR
  4 14 EXEMPLARY DAMAGE LIMITATIONS.
  4 15    1.  Except as provided in subsection 2, an award of
  4 16 punitive or exemplary damages shall not exceed two
  4 17 times the amount of the plaintiff's compensatory
  4 18 damages award or two hundred fifty thousand dollars,
  4 19 whichever is greater.
  4 20    2.  If the defendant is a person or a business with
  4 21 fifty or fewer full-time employees, an award of
  4 22 punitive or exemplary damages shall not exceed two
  4 23 times the amount of the plaintiff's compensatory
  4 24 damages or two hundred fifty thousand dollars,
  4 25 whichever is less.
  4 26    Sec.    .  NEW SECTION.  668B.1  CITATION.
  4 27    This chapter may be cited as the "Noneconomic
  4 28 Damage Awards Act".
  4 29    Sec.    .  NEW SECTION.  668B.2  DAMAGE AWARDS.
  4 30    In any personal injury action, the prevailing
  4 31 plaintiff may be awarded all of the following damages:
  4 32    1.  Compensation for economic damages suffered by
  4 33 the injured plaintiff.
  4 34    2.  Compensation for the noneconomic damages
  4 35 suffered by the injured plaintiff not to exceed the
  4 36 greater of either of the following:
  4 37    a.  Two hundred fifty thousand dollars, except upon
  4 38 a finding of especially egregious conduct on the part
  4 39 of the defendant.
  4 40    b.  The amount awarded in economic damages.
  4 41    Sec.    .  NEW SECTION.  677.10A  PREJUDGMENT
  4 42 INTEREST.
  4 43    If any offer to confess judgment is made under this
  4 44 chapter and is not accepted, and a subsequent trial
  4 45 results in a judgment which is less than the offer to
  4 46 confess judgment, prejudgment interest shall not be
  4 47 calculated or be subject to recovery after the date of
  4 48 the offer to confess judgment."
  4 49    #2.  By renumbering, redesignating, and correcting
  4 50 internal references as necessary.  
  5  1 
  5  2 
  5  3                               
  5  4 RON WIECK
  5  5 SF 344.304 80
  5  6 rh/cf
     

Text: S03107                            Text: S03109
Text: S03100 - S03199                   Text: S Index
Bills and Amendments: General Index     Bill History: General Index

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