“Only Noneconomic Damages Awarded By The Court Are Actually Capped;” Settlement Didn’t Count Toward MICRA’s $250,000 Limitation.

The California Supreme Court considered whether a jury’s award of noneconomic damages, reduced by the court to $250,000 under Civil Code section 3333.2 [MICRA], may be further reduced by setting off the amount of a pretrial settlement attributable to noneconomic losses, even when the defendant who went to trial failed to establish any comparative fault of the settling defendant. In agreeing with the trial judge, who refused to further reduce the award of noneconomic damages, and disagreeing with the Court of Appeal, who ordered a reduction, the Supreme Court stated: “Neither the text nor the history of section 3333.2 reflects such an intent. Rather, the Legislature sought to address the problem of unpredictable jury awards. The limitation on noneconomic damages restrains settlements indirectly, by providing a firm ceiling on potential liability as a basis for negotiation. Only noneconomic damages awarded by the court are actually capped.” (Rashidi v. Moser (Cal. Sup. Ct.; December 15, 2014) 60 Cal.4th 718, [181 Cal.Rptr.3d 59, 339 P.3d 344].)