 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Wischer v. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America9/30/2003
nst it is affirmed, the cross-claims against Federal and Tokio Marine should also be affirmed because the judgments do "no more than enforce those two insurance contracts, preventing both an injustice to Travelers and an outrageous windfall for Federal and Tokio."
. Federal Insurance appeals the direct action judgment against it in favor of the plaintiffs and the judgment against it in favor of Travelers on the cross-claim. Federal claims that the Wisconsin direct action statute does not provide the plaintiffs with a cause of action against it and, even if the statute does, the insurance policy does not cover punitive damages because such an award is against public policy and in excess of Mitsubishi's liability under the IINA agreement.
. Tokio Marine appeals the direct action judgment against it in favor of the plaintiffs and the portion of the judgment against it in favor of Travelers on its cross-claim. Tokio Marine claims that Travelers must be liable for the amount of damages because it failed to prove its policy limits. In addition, Tokio Marine claims that its policy does not cover punitive damages because such an award is in excess of Mitsubishi's liability under the IINA agreement.
III. DISCUSSION
. Indeed, there is no dispute that this case involved a horrible tragedy. The three men who died gave their lives in the process of erecting a state-of-the-art structure. The wives and families of the decedents suffered an immeasurable loss. In compensation for the loss, the three plaintiffs have received a total of $27,000,000. Regardless of our decision on this appeal, that compensation stands.
. The dispositive issue in this case involves the interpretation of a statute. Accordingly, our review is independent from that of the trial court. Stephenson v. Universal Metrics, Inc., 2002 WI 30, , 251 Wis. 2d 171, 641 N.W.2d 158. As a part of our interpretation, we strive to ascertain and enforce the intent of the legislature; our first consideration is the plain language of the statute. Id., . The language of the statute provides: "The plaintiff may receive punitive damage if evidence is submitted showing that the defendant acted maliciously toward the plaintiff or in an intentional disregard of the rights of the plaintiff." Wis. Stat. ยง 895.85(3). We conclude that the statute is not ambiguous. See State v. Peters, 2003 WI 88, , ___ Wis. 2d ___, 665 N.W.2d 171. When the language of a statute is clear, we need only apply "the statutory text to determine the statute's meaning." Id. (citation omitted). If the language of the statute "unambiguously expresses the intent of the legislature, we apply that meaning without resorting to extrinsic sources of legislative intent." Id. (citation omitted). "Statutory language is given its common, ordinary and accepted meaning." Id. (citation omitted). "Rules of statutory construction are inapplicable if the language of the statute has a plain and reasonable meaning on its face." Id. (citation omitted). Moreover, " hether there is sufficient evidence to submit the question of punitive damages to the jury is a question of law which this court independently reviews." Loveridge v. Chartier, 161 Wis. 2d 150, 187-88, 468 N.W.2d 146 (1990).
. Here, the plain language of the statute sets forth two standards under which punitive damages may be appropriate. The first category indicates punitive damages may be appropriate if the conduct is malicious. The second category allows a punitive damage award when there is an intentional disregard of the rights of the plaintiff.
. All parties concede that the record here is devoid of malicious conduct. Plaintiffs' lead counsel, Robert L. Habush, stated:<
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Wisconsin Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|