Opinion ID: 1755829
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Federal Authority.

Text: The dissent heavily relies on the Eighth Circuit's decision in Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Ass'n, Inc. v. New Prime, Inc., 339 F.3d 1001, 1006-08 (8th Cir.2003). That decision is neither persuasive nor controlling. [9] This Court finds more persuasive the approach taken by Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Ass'n, Inc. v. Arctic Express, Inc., 270 F.Supp.2d 990, 995-97 (S.D.Ohio 2003), which distinguished the cases relied on in New Prime and concluded that the same amendments construed in that case could be applied retroactively under principles of federal statutory interpretation because they simply shifted the power to bring the Defendants into court from the [government agency] to the owner-operators themselves. Id. at 995. The reasoning of Arctic Express mirrors that of this Court today and is the proper result under Missouri's rules governing retroactive application of the laws. As this Court unanimously held in Wilkes v. Mo. Hwy & Transp. Comm'n, 762 S.W.2d 27, 28 (Mo. banc 1988), in giving retroactive effect to a 1986 amendment eliminating Missouri's absolute defense of sovereign immunity from certain tort claims, under Missouri principles of constitutional and statutory interpretation such a change is considered procedural, not substantive. Id. at 28. Such is the case in regard to the amendment to the MPA to permit a private party injured by defendant's wrong to sue directly for his damages rather than depend on the attorney general to seek restitution for such harm. An amendment to allow a direct action neither takes away vested rights nor imposes new obligations. The same cannot be said of the new provision for imposition of punitive damages, and for that reason the Court holds that such damages are available only prospectively. The cases cited by the dissent applying federal law interpreting different statutes do not require a contrary result.