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Sweeping decisions by
the Wisconsin Supreme Court promote lawsuit abuse and will
seriously damage recent efforts to make our state business
friendly.
In the last
legislative session, Democrat Governor Jim Doyle and the
GOP-controlled Legislature worked together to cut business taxes
and reform regulations to help businesses grow and expand. They
need to recreate that spirit of bi-partisanship to solve
Wisconsin’s looming liability crisis. And they need to do it
fast before our state starts losing jobs and growth
opportunities.
Wisconsin’s economic
gains are now at risk based on the series of rulings by the
Supreme Court .
The Supreme Court
struck down reasonable limits on medical malpractice
non-economic awards, expanded a novel product liability theory,
and misconstrued statutory directives on punitive damage. Those
three rulings harm our ability to attract good doctors and serve
as a deterrent to business expansion.
Perhaps most
disturbing for job growth is the "guilty even if you’re
innocent" ruling that sends chills down the spines of
manufacturers, small business suppliers and sellers in
Wisconsin. The court ruled that a plaintiff who ate lead paint
can recover damages from manufacturers and raw material
suppliers even if they can’t prove that a specific manufacturer
or its product caused harm. The Supreme Court allowed the
industry to be sued in order to provide so-called "justice" for
the plaintiff. (Never mind that the plaintiff had already
recovered $300,000 in damages from a landlord.)
Wisconsin is the only
state in the nation that allows this "risk contribution" theory.
And when it comes to civil lawsuits "guilty even if you’re
innocent" means "you pay even if you’re innocent" and that is a
job killer. It’s a ruling that tells Wisconsin manufacturers
that our state is a very risky place to expand, and tells the
rest of the world that Dairlyland is a liability danger zone.
This bizarre ruling
will have broad impact on all manufacturers and suppliers in
every industry and in every county in our state. It’s getting
national attention, and that is bad for Wisconsin because
executives making plant siting decisions don’t like the
prospects of being sued out of business by a plaintiff’s lawyer
with a briefcase full of strange legal precedents.
The U.S. Chamber of
Commerce recently broadcast to its members and the nation that
these decisions make Wisconsin “ripe for lawsuit abuse, the
effects of which can be devastating to a state’s economy.”
The Wall Street
Journal reported that the Supreme Court "put out the welcome mat
for trial lawyers" with the manufacturers liability ruling, and
the ruling "will soon have every trial lawyers in America
descending on the state posing as a cheesehead."
Wisconsin can’t
afford to have that happen.
Using the "you pay
even if you’re innocent" precedent, crafty trial lawyers could
sue not just the brewers, but the yeast manufacturers, hop
suppliers and malt manufacturers. And, they wouldn’t even need
to prove that their client drank a specific beer, which used a
specific yeast, hops or malt.
Or a clever lawyer
might choose to pick on cheesemakers, and bring in the dairy
farmers who provided the milk -- and the butterfat -- that made
the cheese. Or perhaps sausage makers, or motorcycle
manufacturers, or automakers, or whichever industry is the
target du jour.
Beyond the
job-killing impact of these rulings, there is something very
troubling about the court’s ruling. The court is legislating.
“You pay even if you’re innocent” never passed the Legislature
and no governor ever signed it.
The Legislature and
governor must act swiftly to enact broad lawsuit reforms to
protect the jobs in our state, including ending the "you pay
even if you’re innocent" standard. Because tax relief and
regulation relief are worthless if you get sued out of business.
It’s that simple. And jobs are at stake.
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