NY Court Allows Damages Cap in Hockey Bus Crash

New York’s top court says Canada’s limit on damages for pain and suffering applies to claims against the Canadian charter bus company and driver deemed 90 percent liable for the 2005 crash that killed three passengers traveling with an Ontario women’s youth hockey team.

But the Court of Appeals says New York’s law with no limit on damages applies to the Pennsylvania company whose parked tractor-trailer was hit by the bus in western New York, killing the truck driver. The trucking defendants were deemed 10 percent responsible.

The top court says complex rules for tort liability “with multi-state contacts” require examining each party individually to determine which laws apply.

Dissenting judges in the 5-2 ruling Thursday say it allows for “a patently absurd result” where the truckers could pay more.