Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority v. Superior Court

Opinion

CROSKEY, J.

Government Code section 818 provides: “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a public entity is not liable for damages awarded under section 3294 of the Civil Code[ 1 ] or other damages imposed primarily for the sake of example and by way of punishing the defendant.” 2 In this writ proceeding, we are asked to address the novel question of whether section 818 precludes the award of the civil penalty specified in the Unruh Civil Rights Act (Civ. Code, § 51 et seq. [Unruh Act]) for the violation of certain of its provisions.

After the petitioner, Los Angeles County…