ABSTRACT
In the United States, maritime law is unique. But maritime law can and often does diverge from the state law that might otherwise govern a dispute. Punitive damages provide a prime example of an issue in which state law and maritime law are often different. The maritime damages issue that has dominated the Court’s attention in recent years has been punitive damages. In just over a decade, from 2008 to 2019, the Court decided several major cases addressing whether a defendant responsible for egregious misconduct could be liable for punitive damages under maritime law. State law and the Restatements strongly supported Baker’s position that punitive damages are available at least for egregious misconduct of a managerial agent. In many states, arguably a majority, the normal respondeat superior standard for tort liability also applies to the imposition of punitive damages, meaning that an employer can be liable in punitive damages for egregious misconduct of any employee acting within the scope employment.
