$2.7 Million Jury Verdict Obtained, Reduced by Tennessee’s Damages Cap

In March 2012, our client Kathryn Sadowski was a passenger in a car being driven by her husband of 30 years, Emil Sadowski.  As the couple was pulling onto Hwy 64 near the Wolfchase Mall they were struck by an uninsured driver, Chamroerun Kheiv.  An independent witness confirmed that Kheiv was driving recklessly, speeding, swerving, and fishtailing in and out of traffic.  The wreck put Emil in the hospital for nine days and he then had to be moved to a long-term care facility.  Katheryn languished in the hospital for 60 days before dying from her injuries in May 2012. Before the wreck, the elderly Bartlett, Tennessee couple lived independently.

The Sadowskis maintained an uninsured motorist policy with State Farm and had faithfully paid premiums for decades.  Despite this fact, and despite the testimony of the independent eye witness, State Farm chose to vigorously defend the reckless uninsured driver, blaming the wreck on Emil Sadowski instead.  State Farm did not pay or offer to pay a single penny to the Sadowskis for their horrible injuries and medical bills.  We had no choice but to take the case to trial.

After several days of trial, a Shelby County Circuit Court jury found in favor of the Sadowskis, finding the uninsured driver to be 85% at fault for the wreck.  The Jury awarded a total of $2.7 million in damages between the Sadowskis.  Of the total verdict, $1.53 million was awarded for Kathryn’s injuries and wrongful death and $1.17 million was awarded for Emil’s injuries.

However, due to the ironically named Civil Justice Act of 2011, the jury’s verdict was reduced significantly.  This law places an arbitrary cap of $750,000 for non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, disfigurement, and permanent injury.  Therefore, the verdict for Kathryn was reduced by $376,250, effectively taking this money from the Sadowski family and placing it back into the hands of State Farm.

This case clearly illustrates the manifest unfairness of Tennessee’s statutory cap on damages.  Instead of obtaining a full recovery, the verdict is reduced and the savings go into the bank account of a billion dollar insurance company.

Here is the order reducing the damages.

The breakdown of damages and subsequent reduction based on Tennessee’s statutory cap on damages occurred as follows for Kathryn Sadowski’s claim:

Non-Economic Damages

Physical Pain and Suffering	$425,000
Emotional Pain and Suffering	$276,250
Loss of ability to enjoy life from injury to death	$42,500
Loss of the adult children of the love, society and companionship of  their mother	$63,750
Loss of Emil Sadowski of the love, society and companionship of his wife	$318,750
Total Non-Economic Damages After Statutory Cap	$1,126,250 $750,000 (Reduction of $376,250)
Economic Damages Medical Expenses	$389,914
Funeral Expenses	$12,457
Total Economic Damages	$402,371
Total Verdict Before Statutory Cap Total Verdict After Statutory Cap	$1,528,621 $1,152,371 (Savings for State Farm – $376,250)

Another significant issue in the case is the bad faith of State Farm. Under recent changes in Tennessee law, insurance companies are no longer subject to the protections of the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act (TCAP). Before the changes, State Farm could face potential liability of treble damages plus attorney’s fees for its bad faith handling of the claim. Now, after the Tennessee Legislature has exempted insurance companies from the TCAP, it appears that we have a wrong without a remedy.

R. Sadler Bailey of Bailey & Greer, PLLC in Memphis represented the interests of Kathryn Sadowki and Donald Capparella of Dodson Parker Behm & Capparella PC in Nashville represented Emil Sadowski.  The case is expected to be appealed.