15 U.S.C. § 6604

Current through P.L. 118-106 (published on www.congress.gov on 10/04/2024)

Section 6604 - Punitive damages limitations

(a) In general

In any Y2K action in which punitive damages are permitted by applicable law, the defendant shall not be liable for punitive damages unless the plaintiff proves by clear and convincing evidence that the applicable standard for awarding damages has been met.

(b) Caps on punitive damages

(1) In general

Subject to the evidentiary standard established by subsection (a), punitive damages permitted under applicable law against a defendant described in paragraph (2) in a Y2K action may not exceed the lesser of-

(A) three times the amount awarded for compensatory damages; or

(B) $250,000.

(2) Defendant described

A defendant described in this paragraph is a defendant-

(A) who-

(i) is sued in his or her capacity as an individual; and

(ii) whose net worth does not exceed $500,000; or

(B) that is an unincorporated business, a partnership, corporation, association, or organization, with fewer than 50 full-time employees.

(3) No cap if injury specifically intended

Paragraph (1) does not apply if the plaintiff establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant acted with specific intent to injure the plaintiff.

(c) Government entities

Punitive damages in a Y2K action may not be awarded against a government entity.

(d) Institutions of higher education

(1) In general

Subject to paragraph (2), punitive damages in a Y2K action may not be awarded against an instituion¹ of higher education as defined in section 1001(a) of title 20.

(2) Exception

Paragraph (1) shall not apply to an institution of higher education if the Y2K failure in the Y2K action occurred in a computer-based student financial aid system of that institution of higher education, and the institution-

(A) has passed Y2K data exchange testing with the Department of Education; or

(B) is not or was not in the process of performing data exchange testing with the Department of Education at the time the Department terminates such testing.

¹So in original. Probably should be "institution".

15 U.S.C. § 6604

Pub. L. 106-37, §5, July 20, 1999, 113 Stat. 192; Pub. L. 106-113, div. B, §1000(a)(4) [title III, §311], Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1535, 1501A-265.

EDITORIAL NOTES

AMENDMENTS1999-Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 106-113 added subsec. (d).

Y2K failure

The term "Y2K failure" means failure by any device or system (including any computer system and any microchip or integrated circuit embedded in another device or product), or any software, firmware, or other set or collection of processing instructions to process, to calculate, to compare, to sequence, to display, to store, to transmit, or to receive year-2000 date-related data, including failures-(A) to deal with or account for transitions or comparisons from, into, and between the years 1999 and 2000 accurately;(B) to recognize or accurately to process any specific date in 1999, 2000, or 2001; or(C) accurately to account for the year 2000's status as a leap year, including recognition and processing of the correct date on February 29, 2000.

government entity

The term "government entity" means an agency, instrumentality, or other entity of Federal, State, or local government (including multijurisdictional agencies, instrumentalities, and entities).