By Mike Tony, Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — After a 100-minute, often impassioned discussion Tuesday, a West Virginia Senate committee narrowly voted to approve legislation that would limit how much workers can recover in compensation for noneconomic damages like pain and suffering when their employer is found to have deliberately endangered them on the job.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-7 to advance House Bill 3270 to the full Senate, signing off on the controversial measure that opponents say would add insult to injury for workers and their families. The House of Delegates approved HB 3270 last month in a 52-45 vote, much narrower than usual in the GOP-supermajority chamber.
“[T]here’s bad actors out there who put profits ahead of people, and they’re going to continue to not practice good, safe work ethics,” Sen. Mike Caputo, D-Marion, a former longtime United Mine Workers union representative, said to fellow committee members during their meeting Tuesday. …