42 U.S.C. § 14504 — Liability for noneconomic loss
submitted 29 years ago by Pub. L. 105-19 to r/title-42-THE-PUBLIC-HEALTH-AND-WELFARE · 166 words · no verdicts yet
This section limits a volunteer's liability for noneconomic loss in civil lawsuits. It applies when a volunteer is sued for acting within their duties for a nonprofit or government body. Each volunteer only pays the share of loss matching their percentage of responsibility for the harm.
(a) General rule. If someone sues a volunteer* over something the volunteer did while acting within their responsibilities to a nonprofit organization* or government body, how much that volunteer owes for "noneconomic loss" — non-money harm*, like pain and suffering — follows subsection (b).
(b) Amount of liability.
(1) In general. Each volunteer defendant is liable only for the share of noneconomic loss that matches their own percentage of responsibility for the claimant's harm — never the whole amount. The court must enter a separate judgment against each volunteer defendant, for that defendant's own share only.
(2) Percentage of responsibility. The judge or jury (the "trier of fact") decides what percentage of responsibility each volunteer defendant bears for the claimant's harm.
In any civil action against a volunteer*, based on an action of a volunteer acting within the scope of the volunteer’s responsibilities to a nonprofit organization* or governmental entity, the liability of the volunteer for noneconomic loss shall be determined in accordance with subsection (b).
Each defendant who is a volunteer, shall be liable only for the amount of noneconomic loss allocated to that defendant in direct proportion to the percentage of responsibility of that defendant (determined in accordance with paragraph (2)) for the harm* to the claimant with respect to which that defendant is liable. The court shall render a separate judgment against each defendant in an amount determined pursuant to the preceding sentence.
For purposes of determining the amount of noneconomic loss allocated to a defendant who is a volunteer under this section, the trier of fact shall determine the percentage of responsibility of that defendant for the claimant’s harm.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 105–19, § 5, June 18, 1997, 111 Stat. 221.)
- 1997Enacted · Pub. L. 105-19 · 111 Stat. 221
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 105-19 on 1997-06-18.
all 0 arguments · sorted by: best
no arguments yet — make the first case