# Sofie v. Fibreboard Corp.

> Washington Supreme Court · September 27, 1989 · 112 Wash. 2d 636

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9597939

## Case

- **Full name:** Austin Sofie, Et Al, Appellants, v. Fibreboard Corporation, Et Al, Respondents
- **Court:** Washington Supreme Court
- **Decided:** September 27, 1989
- **Citations:** 112 Wash. 2d 636; 780 P.2d 260; 1989 WL 120647
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Andersen
- **Judges:** Utter, Brachtenbach, Dore, Pearson, Smith, Dolliver, Callow, Durham
- **Cited by:** 265 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9597939

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- explaining that a statutory cap on non-economic damages “may, indeed, violate the separation of powers” because the cap applies without judicial “case-by-case determinations” of the circumstances of the case
- finding that statutory limit on compensatory noneconomic damages violated state constitutional right to trial by jury
- holding cap on noneconomic damages unconstitutional under article I, section 21 of Washington State Constitution
- holding damage cap unconstitutional because it invaded jury's right to determine damages
- stating in dicta a cap on noneconomic damages may violate the separation of powers because it is a legislative attempt to mandate a legal conclusion

## Opinion text

*670 Andersen, J.
I concur on the basis that RCW 4.56.250 violates Const. art. 1, § 21.

---

Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9597939. Public record. Not legal advice.