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Section A. Section 537.067, RSMo, is repealed and one new 1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