On January 17, 2020, Taylor Anderson, LLP attorneys Paul Buckley and Zachary Rutman won a pretrial motion that will drastically reduce their client’s exposure at trial. And, on a larger scale, this win could change how Washington juries assign damages.
In this case, Taylor Anderson represents the executive director of a residential facility that operated for decades. Plaintiffs were residents of the home and they allege that the director failed to protect them from sexual abuse – allegations the director vigorously denies.
Some states allow intentional tortfeasors (or a someone who commits an intentional act) to appear on the verdict form, regardless of whether they are named in the lawsuit. This allows the jury to assign fault to all potentially responsible parties.
This plays out differently in Washington state, where juries are not allowed to assign fault to intentional tortfeasors. Instead, in cases where both the intentional tortfeasors and negligent tortfeasors are named defendants, the court instructs the jury to segregate damages caused by intentional conduct from those damages caused by negligent conduct.
The rationale behind segregation of damages is to ensure that the negligent defendant is not held financially responsible for damages caused by intentional conduct.
Washington case law is less clear when the perpetrator is not a named defendant, which is what happened in this case. Some courts have held that segregation is improper because the jury is only being asked to decide damages caused by negligent conduct.
Here, while Plaintiffs did not name the intentional tortfeasor, attorney Zachary Rutman argued that segregation of damages was still appropriate because it ensures that negligent defendants are not held responsible for damages caused by intentional conduct – a result followed by federal courts interpreting Washington law. Further, segregation should not be dependent on who Plaintiff sues.
The Court granted the motion and will now instruct the jury to segregate damages caused by intentional conduct from damages caused by negligent conduct.
The case is set for trial on April 6, 2020.