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Seaward Construction Co. v. Bradley9/23/1991
The issue presented by this case is whether a plaintiff who is awarded punitive damages in a personal injury action is entitled to prejudgment interest on those damages. The district court ruled that prejudgment interest cannot be assessed on such an award of punitive damages. The Colorado Court of Appeals reversed. Bradley v. Guess, 797 P.2d 749 (Colo. App. 1989). Based on construction of the controlling statute, we conclude that prejudgment interest cannot be awarded on punitive damages in a personal injury action and therefore reverse the judgment of the court of appeals and direct that the judgment of the district court be affirmed.
I.
Richard Bradley filed this action in the District Court for Rio Blanco County seeking damages for injuries sustained in a fight at a Christmas party sponsored by Seaward Construction Company, Inc. The party was held at a tavern near Meeker, Colorado, in December 1982. Bradley was a member of a country and western band that provided entertainment at the Christmas party. William D. Guess, an employee of Seaward, was responsible for arranging and supervising the gathering. During the party, Guess and other Seaward employees engaged in a fight with Bradley, causing him serious injuries. Bradley alleged that Seaward and Guess were negligent, wanton, and reckless in supervising the party and that such misconduct caused Bradley's injuries. The case was tried to a jury. The jury found for Bradley and determined that he had suffered $300,000 in compensatory damages, that his own negligence accounted for twenty-five percent of the total negligence that produced his injuries, and that he should receive $533,000 in punitive damages because the conduct of Seaward and Guess was wanton and reckless. Bradley moved for entry of judgment, asserting under sections 13-21-101 and -102, 6A C.R.S. (1987), that the judgment should include interest on the punitive damages award from the date of his injuries to the date the judgment is paid. The district court denied the request for prejudgment interest on punitive damages, citing Jacobs v. Commonwealth Highland Theatres, Inc., 738 P.2d 6, 13 (Colo. App. 1986). The district court entered judgment including prejudgment interest on the compensatory damages but not on the punitive damages. The Colorado Court of Appeals, in a decision by a divided panel, reversed the denial of prejudgment interest on punitive damages, specifically declining to follow Jacobs. Bradley, 797 P.2d at 751. We granted certiorari to resolve whether prejudgment interest can be assessed on a punitive damages award in a personal injury case.
II.
Prejudgment interest on damages awarded in a personal injury action is specifically authorized by statute. Allstate Ins. Co. v. Starke, 797 P.2d 14, 19 (Colo. 1990). The governing statute is section 13-21-101, 6A C.R.S. (1987), which states in relevant part:
(1) In all actions brought to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by any person resulting from or occasioned by the tort of any other person, corporation, association, or partnership, whether by negligence or by willful intent of such other person, corporation, association, or partnership and whether such injury has resulted fatally or otherwise, . . . it is lawful for the plaintiff in the complaint to claim interest on the damages claimed from the date the action accrued. When such interest is so claimed, it is the duty of the court in entering judgment for the plaintiff in such action to add to the amount of damages assessed by the verdict of the jury, or found by the court, interest on such
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