Civil actions: damages.

Existing law authorizes the plaintiff, in an action for the breach of an obligation not arising from contract, where it is proven by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant has been guilty of oppression, fraud, or malice, to recover damages for the sake of example and by way of punishing the defendant in addition to the actual damages. This bill would limit punitive damages in those actions to 3 times the award for compensatory damages. This bill would also provide, in a case involving injury or harm allegedly caused by a product, that the manufacturer, distributor, or seller of the product shall not be guilty of oppression, fraud, or malice if, at the time of manufacture, distribution, or sale, the product, or the aspect, component, warning, or absence of warning contained in or accompanying the product that allegedly caused the injury or harm, was either approved by, or in material compliance with, a statute or the standards, rules, regulations, requirements, or specifications of, a federal or state agency responsible for regulating, evaluating, or approving the product, except as specified. Existing law also provides that the measure of damages for the breach of an obligation not arising from contract is the amount that will compensate for all the detriment proximately caused. This bill would provide that in any action for injury based on negligence, the plaintiff shall be entitled to recover noneconomic losses, as provided, not to exceed $250,000. The California Constitution authorizes the Governor to declare a fiscal emergency and to call the Legislature into special session for that purpose. The Governor issued a proclamation declaring a fiscal emergency, and calling a special session for this purpose, on January 8, 2010. This bill would state that it addresses the fiscal emergency declared by the Governor by proclamation issued on January 8, 2010, pursuant to the California Constitution.