Is a hearing that included survivors of gruesome circumstances - - like the collapse of the O'Donnell parking garage - - really the best opportunity for the Governor's lawyer to offer some talking points about litigation and job creation?
Here's the context, as reported by WISN-TV Channel 12, as victims' relatives gathered in Madison to protest punitive damage limits under consideration:
"Supporters [of the limitation] at a Capitol hearing insist the bill still provides compensatory damages for victims, while protecting businesses from the expense of frivolous suits and unpredictable punitive damages.
"The reality or even the threat of litigation poses significant costs on job creators, from stifling innovation and efficiency to its direct impact on the bottom line," Gov. Scott Walker's legal chief counsel Brian Hagedorn said."
I am adding a link to the testimony at the hearing; Dawn Kellner, mother of Jared Kellner - - the young victim in the parking garage facade collapse - - begins her testimony at the 7:20 mark.
That is quite the ideological slip up. Walker and his crowd clearly believe that punitive damages are frivolous. In a world without punitive damages, businesses would be free to assess the damage they cause to others as a cost of doing business and blithely carry on doing it.
ReplyDeleteNo kidding. Apparently no one there saw "Fight Club", because if they did, they'd know that figuring out liability limits and recall vs. allowing death was Jack's whole job.
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