A common law doctrine, known as “vicarious liability,” generally provides that a principal party is responsible for the actions of the agent of the principal. Existing law provides: (1) whenever any person suffers personal injury by wrongful act, neglect or default of another, the person causing the injury is liable to the person injured for damages; and (2) with certain exceptions, where the person causing the injury is employed by another person or corporation responsible for the conduct of the person causing the injury, the other person or corporation is liable to the person injured for damages. (NRS 41.130) Section 2 of this bill instead provides that only the person causing the injury is liable to the person injured and removes the provisions of existing law providing for liability on the employer for the actions of the person who caused the injury. Section 10 of this bill repeals the existing provisions of law which set forth certain limitations on the liability of the employer, and section 1 of this bill makes a conforming change to remove a reference to the provisions repealed by section 10. Existing law provides that in any action to recover damages for death or injury to persons or property where comparative negligence is asserted as a defense, the comparative negligence of the plaintiff or the plaintiff's decedent does not bar recovery if that negligence was not greater than the negligence or gross negligence of the parties against whom recovery is sought. If the jury determines that the plaintiff is entitled to recover in such a case, existing law requires the jury to return: (1) a general verdict with the total amount of damages the plaintiff would be entitled to recover notwithstanding the plaintiff's comparative negligence; and (2) a special verdict indicating the percentage of negligence assigned to each party remaining in the action. Existing law further requires that, in an action where a plaintiff may recover from more than one defendant, each defendant is severally liable to the plaintiff only for that portion of the judgment representing the percentage of negligence assigned to that defendant. Existing law also contains exceptions for certain causes of action where the doctrine of joint and several liability may apply. (NRS 41.141) Section 3 of this bill: (1) removes the requirement for comparative negligence to be asserted as a defense; (2) removes the limitation prohibiting the comparative negligence of the defendant and the amount of the settlement from being admitted into evidence or considered by a jury; (3) requires a trier of fact to consider the fault of all persons who contributed to the death, injury or damage to the property; (4) authorizes a trier of fact to consider the negligence, strict liability or fault of a nonparty under certain circumstances; (5) provides various limitations on the use of percentages of fault for nonparties; and (6) repeals the provisions providing for joint and several liability in certain circumstances. A common law doctrine, known as the “collateral source rule,” prohibits a defendant in a tort case, which generally includes actions for personal injury, from introducing into evidence proof of amounts that the plaintiff received or was entitled to receive from a source other than the defendant in compensation for the harms or injuries caused by the defendant. Existing law provides a limited exception to the collateral source rule by allowing a defendant in a case against a provider of health care based upon professional negligence to introduce evidence of amounts paid or payable to a plaintiff pursuant to policies of health or accident insurance, the United States Social Security Act, worker's compensation statutes and other programs or contracts that pay for or reimburse costs of health care. (NRS 42.021) Section 4 of this bill abolishes the common law collateral source rule in civil actions for personal injury, other than those actions against a provider of health care based upon professional negligence, and instead limits the amount of damages for medical expenses to the amount that the plaintiff has been or will be compensated for his or her injury by health insurance, Medicare or Medicaid. Existing law establishes the Nevada Industrial Insurance Act, which provides for the payment of compensation to employees who are injured or disabled as a result of an occupational injury or disease. (Chapters 616A-616D of NRS) Sections 5-9 of this bill revise various provisions of the Act to prohibit a private attorney or representative of a claimant or injured employee, as applicable, from receiving a fee for any services provided in an amount greater than 20 percent of any lump sum payment paid to the claimant or injured employee.

Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 41.03475, 41.130, 41.141, 616C.380, 616C.427, 616C.495, 616C.580, 616C.595, 41.745
BDR: 41.03475, 41.130, 41.141, 616C.380, 616C.427, 616C.495, 616C.580, 616C.595, 41.745