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Jensen v. Walsh3/22/2001
e is to property, other claims of property damage may be protected through an award of punitive damages. Section 549.20 allows punitive damages where there is deliberate disregard of the rights or safety of others. Minn. Stat. §á549.20, subd. 1. Use of the disjunctive "or" indicates that the legislature intended to safeguard rights other than those relating to a person's safety. Therefore, section 549.20 does not limit its application to claims of personal injury.
The purposes of punitive damages are to punish the perpetrator, to deter repeat behavior and to deter others from engaging in similar behavior. William L. Prosser & W. Page Keeton, Prosser and Keeton on the Law of Torts § 2, at 9. Without punitive damages, one who acts with deliberate disregard of the rights or safety of others faces no greater penalty than a well-meaning but negligent offender. It is therefore appropriate, in determining whether punitive damages should be allowed, to focus on the wrongdoer's conduct rather than to focus on the type of damage that results from the conduct.
A plain reading of section 549.20 indicates that the legislature intended to allow punitive damages when there is clear and convincing evidence that a defendant acted with deliberate disregard for the rights or safety of others regardless of the nature of the resulting damage. Thus, we hold that a plaintiff may seek punitive damages in an action for intentional damage to property where the only damage is to property, subject to the limitations of section 549.20.
We reverse the court of appeals and remand this case to the district court for reconsideration of the Jensens' motion to amend their complaint to include a claim for punitive damages, subject to the criteria set forth in Minn. Stat. § 549.20.
Reversed and remanded.
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