| 1 | 1 | | |
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| 2 | 2 | | EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted |
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| 3 | 3 | | and is intended to be omitted in the law. |
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| 4 | 4 | | FIRST REGULAR SESSION |
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| 5 | 5 | | SENATE BILL NO. 826 |
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| 6 | 6 | | 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 7 | 7 | | INTRODUCED BY SENATOR GREGORY (21). |
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| 8 | 8 | | 3170S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary |
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| 9 | 9 | | AN ACT |
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| 10 | 10 | | To repeal section 537.067, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to |
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| 11 | 11 | | determinations of fault. |
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| 12 | 12 | | |
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| 13 | 13 | | Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows: |
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| 14 | 14 | | Section A. Section 537.067, RSMo, is repealed and one new 1 |
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| 15 | 15 | | section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 537.067, 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | to read as follows:3 |
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| 17 | 17 | | 537.067. 1. In all tort actions for damages, [if a 1 |
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| 18 | 18 | | defendant is found to bear fifty -one percent or more of 2 |
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| 19 | 19 | | fault, then such defendant shall be jointly and severally 3 |
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| 20 | 20 | | liable for the amount of the judgment rendered against the 4 |
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| 21 | 21 | | defendants. If a defendant is found to bear less than fifty- 5 |
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| 22 | 22 | | one percent of fault, then the defendant shall only be 6 |
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| 23 | 23 | | responsible for the percentage of the judgment for which the 7 |
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| 24 | 24 | | defendant is determined to be responsible by the trier of 8 |
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| 25 | 25 | | fact; except that, a party is responsible for the fault of 9 |
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| 26 | 26 | | another defendant or for payment of the proportionate share 10 |
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| 27 | 27 | | of another defendant if any of the following applies: 11 |
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| 28 | 28 | | (1) The other defendant was acting as an employee of 12 |
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| 29 | 29 | | the party; 13 |
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| 30 | 30 | | (2) The party's liability for the fault of another 14 |
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| 31 | 31 | | person arises out of a duty created by the federal 15 |
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| 32 | 32 | | Employers' Liability Act, 45 U.S.C. Section 51. 16 SB 826 2 |
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| 33 | 33 | | 2. The defendants shall only be severally liable for 17 |
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| 34 | 34 | | the percentage of punitive damages for which fault is 18 |
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| 35 | 35 | | attributed to such defendant by the trier of fact. 19 |
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| 36 | 36 | | 3.] the liability of each defendant for damages shall 20 |
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| 37 | 37 | | be several and shall not be joint. Each defendant shall be 21 |
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| 38 | 38 | | liable only for the amount of damages allocated to that 22 |
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| 39 | 39 | | defendant in direct proportion to that defendant's 23 |
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| 40 | 40 | | percentage of fault. A separate several judgment shall be 24 |
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| 41 | 41 | | rendered against that defendant for that amount. If a 25 |
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| 42 | 42 | | plaintiff is found to bear fifty -one percent or more of the 26 |
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| 43 | 43 | | fault to the action, then the plaintiff shall be barred from 27 |
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| 44 | 44 | | the recovery of any damages for the action. 28 |
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| 45 | 45 | | 2. To determine the amount of damages to be entered 29 |
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| 46 | 46 | | against each defendant in accordance with subsection 1 of 30 |
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| 47 | 47 | | this section, the trier of fact shall calculate the 31 |
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| 48 | 48 | | following: 32 |
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| 49 | 49 | | (1) The total amount of damages a plaintiff would have 33 |
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| 50 | 50 | | been entitled to rec over absent any fault to be proportioned 34 |
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| 51 | 51 | | to such plaintiff; 35 |
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| 52 | 52 | | (2) The percentage of fault of each party, including 36 |
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| 53 | 53 | | any fault that is attributable to the plaintiff, and all 37 |
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| 54 | 54 | | other persons or entities who contributed to the alleged 38 |
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| 55 | 55 | | injury or damages, regardless of whether the person or 39 |
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| 56 | 56 | | entity was, or could have been, named as a party to the 40 |
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| 57 | 57 | | action; and 41 |
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| 58 | 58 | | (3) Multiply the total amount of damages recoverable 42 |
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| 59 | 59 | | by the plaintiff by the percentage of each defendant's fault. 43 |
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| 60 | 60 | | 3. The amount of damages calculated pursuant to 44 |
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| 61 | 61 | | subsection 2 of this section for a defendant shall be the 45 |
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| 62 | 62 | | maximum recoverable against that defendant. 46 |
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| 63 | 63 | | 4. Assessments of percentages of fault of nonparties 47 |
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| 64 | 64 | | shall be used only in the determination of the percentage of 48 SB 826 3 |
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| 65 | 65 | | fault of named parties. Where fault is assessed against 49 |
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| 66 | 66 | | nonparties under this section, findings of fact shall not 50 |
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| 67 | 67 | | subject any nonparty to liability in any action or be 51 |
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| 68 | 68 | | introduced as evidence of liability in any action. 52 |
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| 69 | 69 | | 5. In all tort actions, no part y may disclose to the 53 |
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| 70 | 70 | | trier of fact the impact of this section. The court shall 54 |
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| 71 | 71 | | instruct the jury on the application of this section, 55 |
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| 72 | 72 | | including the determination of a plaintiff's percentage of 56 |
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| 73 | 73 | | fault, a defendant's percentage of fault, and the bar to 57 |
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| 74 | 74 | | recovery if the plaintiff is found to bear fifty -one percent 58 |
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| 75 | 75 | | or more of the fault. 59 |
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| 76 | 76 | | |
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