The Commonwealth Court has upheld a $500,000 statutory limit on damage awards against governmental entities, setting up the constitutional challenge for possible resolution by the state Supreme Court.
The panel decision effectively wipes out most of a $14 million award reached by a Bucks County jury to plaintiff Ashley Zauflik for the loss of her leg and pelvic injuries after a school bus driver hit the accelerator instead of the brake, striking her while she was standing on the sidewalk. Zauflik, who had been standing with a group of students, was the most catastrophically injured when the bus jumped the curb.
