The damages section of the Colorado Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) statute provideas as follows:
(1) The provisions of this article shall be available in a civil action for any claim against any person who has engaged in or caused another to engage in any deceptive trade practice listed in this article. An action under this section shall be available to any person who:
(a) Is an actual or potential consumer of the defendant's goods, services, or property and is injured as a result of such deceptive trade practice
See Colo. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 6-1-113.
"Under section 6–1–113 of the CCPA, to maintain a private claim for relief, a plaintiff must demonstrate an injury in fact to a legally protected interest caused by the challenged deceptive trade practice. Hall v. Walter, 969 P.2d 224, 235–36 (Colo.1998).10 The CCPA does not specify which injuries it is intended to prevent. Id. at 236." Crowe v. Tull, 126 P.3d 196, 209 (Colo. 2006).
For purposes of a private cause of action under section 6-1-113, “any person” means a person, as defined by section 6-1-102(6) who establishes (1) that the defendant engaged in an unfair or deceptive trade practice; (2) that the challenged practice occurred in the course of defendant's business, vocation, or occupation; (3) that it significantly impacts the public as actual or potential consumers of the defendant's goods, services, or property; (4) that the plaintiff suffered injury in fact to a legally protected interest; and (5) that the challenged practice caused the plaintiff's injury." Hall, 969 P.2d at 235.
"The CCPA does not specify injuries against which it is intended to guard. Its focus lies with defining prohibited actions that are likely to injure the public and specifying civil penalties and private remedies available for these violations. . . . The CCPA is silent as to specific injuries for which it intends to provide a remedy. If we were to decide that the only consumer protection interests “legally protected” are ones defined in the Act, we would render the CCPA's damages provision inoperable. This result would be contrary to our jurisprudence." Instead, "we will give effect to the spirit and intent of the General Assembly in enacting the statute." Hall, 969 P.2d at 236.
"The CCPA . . . affords an aggrieved consumer a private statutory remedy through which he may seek compensation for damage or injury caused by deceptive trade practices." Showpiece Homes Corp. v. Assurance Co. of Am., 38 P.3d 47, 53 (Colo. 2001).
Now there is no doubt that bodily or personal safety and integrity is a legally protected interest, defined as follows:
An interest is legally protected if the constitution, common law, or a statute, rule, or regulation provides the plaintiff with a claim for relief.
Reeves v. City of Fort Collins, 170 P.3d 850, 851 (Colo. App. 2007). Thus, damages for personal injury, pain and suffering, impairment, etc., should be recoverable under the CCPA.
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