Because the Treble Damages Award for Cover-up of Childhood Sexual Assault Is Primarily Punitive in Nature, Government Code section 818 Bars Treble Damages Awards against Public Entity Defendants

In X.M. V. Superior Court (Hesperia Unified School District), published September 16, 2021, the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division 2 agreed with Los Angeles Unified School Dist. V. Superior Court (currently being reviewed by the California Supreme Court) and held that the treble-damages provision of Code of Civil Procedure section 340.1 for cover-up of childhood sexual abuse is barred by Government Code section 818, which immunizes public entities such as school districts from punitive damages.  Because by definition they are in addition to compensatory damages, treble damages are generally deemed punitive.  The exceptions are where the legislature intended the provision to be primarily compensatory, or where there is a complex situation that renders compensatory damages an incomplete compensatory remedy.  The court found that the announcements of legislative intent behind the treble damages provision could be read as making sure that victims of cover-up are fully compensated, or they might be read as intending the treble damages to be punitive.  Comparing the treble damages provision in section 340.1 to treble damages provisions that were found not to be primarily punitive, the court determined that the primary purpose of the treble damages provision is punitive.  It is therefore barred as against public entity defendants.