In March 2015, Scott Busch was crossing the street in a crosswalk with the walk signal. A garbage truck made and illegal turn, striking him and severing his leg. This car accident case went to trial and a jury returned a verdict in Busch’s favor for approximately $3 million in “economic” damages i.e. medical bills, lost earnings, etc. The jury also awarded $10,5 million for “noneconomic” damages. Noneconomic damages are what people commonly refer to as pain and suffering damages. The defendant requested that the trial court reduce the noneconomic damages to $500,000 based on an Oregon’s law authorizing reductions in these types of damages. Judge Michael Greenlick granted the defense motion and slashed the damages to $500,000. The judge did not need to grant the motion. The “economic” damages only covered Mr. Busch’s lost wages and medical bills. He could not afford a proper prosthetic leg and had multiple problems with the one that was fitted for him after the accident. A portion of this award would enable him to get the the new prosthetic device. His noneconomic damages represented the significant impact the injury had on his life.
This ruling is quite disconcerting for plaintiffs everywhere as the court overrode a valid jury verdict and could be precedent for future cases. When a jury has decided that a person is entitled to a specific amount of damages, we should all have to live with it. We have a jury system for a reason and the jury’s decision should be respected no matter if we agree with it or not. People suffer catastrophic injuries in all types of accidents and must be compensated appropriately without concern that a court will insert it’s own view as to what the result should be. The fight is not over as the ruling will most likely be appealed all the way to the Oregon Supreme Court.