A Bus Crash Case and the Right to Trial by Jury
Can Lawmakers Cap What a Jury Awards? A Bus Crash Case and the Right to Trial by Jury
On October 2, 2017, a SEPTA bus ran over Hayley Freilich’s left foot as she was crossing Broad Street at Vine Street in Philadelphia. She later had part of the foot amputated. SEPTA admitted it was at fault.
In October 2021, after the pandemic had pushed back the trial, both sides agreed that her damages were worth $7 million: $500,000 in past economic losses, $500,000 in future economic losses and $6 million for pain and suffering.
On October 1, 2026, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that she can collect $250,000, the limit state law sets for damages against Commonwealth agencies. The court rejected her argument that the limit violates the Pennsylvania Constitution.
The two constitutional arguments
Freilich relied on two parts of Article I of the state constitution. Section 6 says trial by jury “shall be as heretofore, and the right thereof remain inviolate.” Section 11 says every person injured “shall have remedy by due course of law.”
The majority did not accept either one. On the jury question, it held that “there is no constitutional right to a complete recovery on a jury’s verdict.” The jury still decides the facts and the amount of damages. The cap only applies afterward, when the court enters judgment.
The remedy argument ran into the second half of Section 11, which allows suits against the Commonwealth “in such manner, in such courts and in such cases as the Legislature may by law direct.” Pennsylvania courts have read that language for decades as giving the General Assembly full control over claims against the state.
The majority wrote that “it is for the legislature to provide for remedies, including any limitations on the type or amount of the remedies.” If lawmakers can bar a claim entirely, the court reasoned, they can also put a ceiling on it.
Justice Christine Donohue, joined by Justice Daniel McCaffery, dissented. She would have overruled Smith v. City of Philadelphia, the 1986 decision the majority relied on, and called it “fatally flawed.”
Chief Justice Debra Todd, who wrote the majority opinion, also wrote separately to criticize lawmakers, describing “an unconscionable failure on the part of the General Assembly to raise the limits of this statutory cap in 40 years.”
Where the $250,000 goes
Insurance Business, which reported on the case, broke down the reduced judgment. Expert fees, medical records and court costs came to $76,205, and the contingency fee to $83,333, leaving $90,462.
Her health insurer had a first-priority lien of $520,668, and a disability insurer had reserved a claim for $39,350. On those figures, her net recovery is close to nothing.
The $250,000 figure dates to 1978 and has never been adjusted for inflation. Cities, counties, school districts and other local agencies are covered by a separate law, the Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act, which caps damages at $500,000.
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Why the federal Seventh Amendment did not come into it
The Seventh Amendment preserves the right to a civil jury “in Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars.” The U.S. Supreme Court has never applied it to the states, so it governs civil trials in federal court only.
A personal injury case in a Pennsylvania court is decided under the Pennsylvania Constitution, so that is where Freilich’s case had to be argued.
Different rules apply when the vehicle belongs to the federal government. Claims for crashes involving postal trucks or other federal vehicles go through the Federal Tort Claims Act. The injured person generally must file an administrative claim with the agency within two years before suing. Under 28 U.S.C. § 2402, those suits are tried by the court without a jury.
Private crashes versus government vehicles
Crashes between two private drivers are not subject to these caps. The personal injury firm Leeson & Leeson, which has handled Pennsylvania cases since 1969, notes that the general deadline to file a lawsuit after a car accident in the state is two years. Shared fault and the choice between full and limited tort coverage can also shape what a driver recovers.
Claims against a government unit carry extra requirements. Under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5522, a person who intends to sue a Pennsylvania government unit generally has to give written notice within six months of the injury.
The damages caps apply on top of that, whatever the jury or the parties decide the injuries are worth.
What happens next
Government groups that filed briefs in the case argued that lifting the cap could push transit agencies to raise fares or cut service, and could make liability insurance hard to get for smaller public bodies. Under the ruling, any change to the cap has to come from the General Assembly.
For now, the $250,000 limit applies to claims against SEPTA and other Commonwealth agencies regardless of the size of the verdict.
This article is for general educational purposes and is not legal advice.
