Economic damages: the documented, countable losses
Economic damages are the straightforward, receipt-backed part of a claim. In a Vermont personal injury case, this generally includes medical expenses already incurred, lost wages from time away from work, property damage, and reasonably anticipated future medical care or lost earning capacity tied directly to the injury.
Non-economic damages: the subjective losses
Non-economic damages cover the losses that don't come with a receipt: pain, suffering, and similar nonpecuniary harm. These are inherently harder to quantify, which is exactly why the multiplier method exists — to translate a documented economic figure into a reasoned estimate of the non-economic side.
The exact statutory language behind the 2024 change
Act 90 added a new subsection (b) to 12 V.S.A. § 1036: "Contributory and comparative negligence shall be prohibited as a defense to limit a plaintiff's recovery for damages in an action for a negligence claim relating to a sexual act... or sexual conduct." Both terms are defined by cross-reference to Vermont's criminal code, giving the civil carve-out a precise, already-established legal boundary.
A real case behind the law
Lawmakers pointed specifically to a case involving the Milton football team from more than a decade earlier, in which a sexual assault victim was found partially negligent for the assault — reducing what they could recover in the civil case that followed. Governor Phil Scott signed Act 90 describing it as closing that "victim-blaming loophole."
No damages cap in either category
Outside the fault question, Vermont imposes no statutory cap on either economic or noneconomic damages in a medical malpractice case against a private provider — nor on punitive damages. Both categories are recoverable in whatever amount the evidence and the jury support.