## Facts

- Jodi McClay was injured at Nashville International Airport when a heavy wooden panel fell on her foot at a store operated by Airport Management Services, LLC (AMS).
- McClay sued AMS for negligence in federal district court.
- A federal jury awarded McClay $930,000 in noneconomic damages and $444,500 in future medical expenses, among other items.
- Tennessee law generally caps noneconomic damages at $750,000 per plaintiff under Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-39-102.
- McClay challenged the constitutionality of the noneconomic damages cap under the Tennessee Constitution.
- The federal district court certified three questions of state constitutional law to the Tennessee Supreme Court, and the State of Tennessee intervened to defend the statute.

## Issues

1. Whether Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-39-102’s cap on noneconomic damages violates the right to trial by jury under Article I, § 6 of the Tennessee Constitution.
2. Whether the cap violates the separation of powers under the Tennessee Constitution by encroaching on the judiciary.
3. Whether the cap violates equal protection under the Tennessee Constitution by disproportionately discriminating against women.

## Decision

- The Tennessee Supreme Court answered all three certified questions in the negative and upheld the constitutionality of Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-39-102.
- The court held the cap does not violate the jury-trial right because the jury still determines noneconomic damages as a factual matter, and the court applies the cap afterward as a legal limit on recovery.
- The court held the cap does not violate separation of powers because it is a generally applicable rule defining the legal consequences of liability and does not require judicial reweighing of evidence like remittitur.
- The court held the cap does not violate equal protection because it is facially neutral, does not classify by sex, and survives rational-basis review despite asserted disparate impact.

## Legal Principles

- Article I, § 6 preserves the jury’s fact-finding role, but the legislature may set legal limits on available remedies so long as the jury can still determine damages in the first instance.
- A statutory noneconomic damages cap applied post-verdict is a substantive remedial limitation, not a judicial reexamination of the jury’s factual determinations.
- Under Tennessee equal protection doctrine, disparate impact alone does not trigger heightened scrutiny absent proof of discriminatory purpose; a facially neutral damages cap is reviewed for a rational relationship to legitimate governmental objectives.
- Legislative objectives such as limiting variability in noneconomic awards and increasing predictability in civil liability can satisfy rational-basis review for a damages cap.

## Conclusion

The Tennessee Supreme Court held that Tennessee’s statutory cap on noneconomic damages is constitutional under the state jury-trial guarantee, separation-of-powers doctrine, and equal-protection principles, leaving application of the cap to the certifying federal court.


McClay v. Airport Mgmt. Servs., LLC, 596 S.W.3d 686 (Tenn. 2020)