Opinion ID: 1316031
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Purpose of Punitive Damages Award

Text: Punitive damages are awarded to punish and deter defendants who have acted `maliciously, wantonly, mischievously or with criminal indifference to civil obligations.' Peters v. Rivers Edge Mining, Inc., 224 W.Va. 160, 190, 680 S.E.2d 791, 821 (2009) (quoting Syl. pt. 3, in part, Jopling v. Bluefield Water Works & Improvement Co., 70 W.Va. 670, 74 S.E. 943 (1912)). Accord Syl. pt. 1, O'Brien v. Snodgrass, 123 W.Va. 483, 16 S.E.2d 621 (1941) (Punitive or exemplary damages are such as, in a proper case, a jury may allow against the defendant by way of punishment for wilfulness, wantonness, malice, or other like aggravation of his wrong to the plaintiff, over and above full compensation for all injuries directly or indirectly resulting from such wrong.); Syl. pt. 4, Mayer v. Frobe, 40 W.Va. 246, 22 S.E. 58 (1895) (In actions of tort, where gross fraud, malice, oppression, or wanton, willful, or reckless conduct or criminal indifference to civil obligations affecting the rights of others appear, or where legislative enactment authorizes it, the jury may assess exemplary, punitive, or vindictive damages; these terms being synonymous.). Punitive damages are not designed to compensate an injured plaintiff for his/her actual loss; such compensation is achieved through compensatory, not punitive, damages. See Robin Jean Davis and Louis J. Palmer, Jr., Punitive Damages Law in West Virginia, at 4, available at http://www.state.wv.us/wvsca/PunitiveDamages2010.pdf (last visited Mar. 26, 2010). In order to recover punitive damages from a defendant, a plaintiff must prove that the defendant's wrongful conduct caused the plaintiff's injury and resultant damages. `[T]he right to recover punitive damages in any case is not the cause of action itself, but a mere incident thereto.' Davis & Palmer, Punitive Damages Law, at 7 (quoting Lyon v. Grasselli Chem. Co., 106 W.Va. 518, 521, 146 S.E. 57, 58 (1928)) (footnote omitted). Thus, a plaintiff must have sustained an injury and be awarded compensatory damages therefor before he/she may receive an award of punitive damages: an award of compensatory damages is a necessary predicate for an award of punitive damages. That is, punitive damages may not be awarded by a jury, if the jury fails to award compensatory damages. Davis & Palmer, id., at 7 (footnotes omitted). This is so because [p]unitive damages must bear a reasonable relationship to the potential of harm caused by the defendant's actions. Syl. pt. 1, in part, Garnes v. Fleming Landfill, Inc., 186 W.Va. 656, 413 S.E.2d 897 (1991) (overruling Wells v. Smith, 171 W.Va. 97, 297 S.E.2d 872 (1982), which allowed jury to award punitive damages without finding compensatory damages). However, when compensatory damages are not large enough to convince a defendant or future defendants to take precautions to avoid the misconduct that resulted in the plaintiff's injury, [p]unitive damages are necessary... to discourage [the defendant's or future defendants'] future bad acts. Garnes, 186 W.Va. at 660-61, 413 S.E.2d at 901-02 (citation omitted).