Clarke v. Oregon Health Sciences University
Supreme Court of Oregon
175 P.3d 418 (Or. 2007)
Jordaan Clarke suffered permanent brain damage from a surgery performed negligently by employees of Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) (defendant), a state entity, when he was three months old. His guardian (plaintiff) sued OHSU and the individual employees for $17 million, but Oregon's Tort Claims Act (OTCA) both funneled the claim exclusively against the state entity and capped damages against the state at $200,000. The trial court entered judgment against OHSU and dismissed the employees; the court of appeals held that the combination of exclusive-remedy provision and damages cap violated the Oregon Constitution's Remedy Clause.
Whether a state statute limiting claims for torts committed by state employees to claims against the state, combined with a cap on damages against the state, violates a plaintiff's constitutional right to remedy.