Existing law provides for the award of attorney's fees and costs to, and the recovery of damages by, a plaintiff, when it is proven by clear and convincing evidence that a defendant is liable for physical abuse or neglect of an elder or dependent adult and the defendant has also been guilty of recklessness, oppression, fraud, or malice in the commission of the abuse. This bill would revise these provisions to change the standard of proof to a preponderance of the evidence. Existing law authorizes a plaintiff to recover damages for the sake of example and by way of punishing the defendant in addition to the actual damages. Existing law provides that an employer is not liable for punitive damages based on the acts of an employee unless certain conditions are satisfied. Existing law requires that these conditions regarding the imposition of punitive damages on an employer based upon the acts of an employee be satisfied before any damages or attorney's fees permitted due to liability for physical abuse or neglect of an elder or dependent adult are authorized to be imposed against an employer. This bill would instead require that these conditions regarding the imposition of punitive damages on an employer be satisfied before any punitive damages may be imposed against an employer found liable for physical abuse, as defined, or neglect, as defined. This bill would state that these provisions are not intended to affect the specified standard of proof for punitive damages.
Sponsored bills
This measure would designate a specified portion of State Highway Route 15 in the County of San Diego as the Tuskegee Airmen Highway. The measure would request that the Department of Transportation determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.
This measure would recognize, congratulate, and commend the Boy Scouts of America on its 102nd anniversary, and encourage the Boy Scouts of America to accept for membership and leadership positions qualified boys and men without discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or religious belief.
This measure would request that the Department of Transportation erect informational signs on State Highway Route 210 in the County of Los Angeles directing motorists to the Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America, consistent with the signing requirements for the state highway system and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources sufficient to cover the cost, to erect those signs.
This measure would recognize June 12, 2012, as the 114th Anniversary of Philippine Independence, and would call upon the people of the state to observe the month of June with appropriate ceremonies, programs, and activities.
(1) The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a professional forester has been submitted to, and approved by, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. This bill would require the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection, if the director determines a preharvest inspection is necessary to review a timber harvesting plan, to coordinate with a specified interdisciplinary team to ensure that all necessary members of the team that request participation are present for the inspection. The bill would require a review team member who requests participation to make a good faith effort to participate in the scheduled preharvest inspection. The bill would authorize the director, if there are compelling reasons why a member of the review team cannot attend the initial inspection, and the director articulates those reasons, in writing, to the person who submitted the plan, to schedule an additional onsite visit to complete the initial inspection. (2) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
This measure would proclaim February 29, 2012, as Rare Disease Day in California.