U.S. SUPREME COURT GRANTS CERTIORARI IN PUNITIVE DAMAGES CASE

On Tuesday, May 30, the United States Supreme Court agreed to consider another case involving the constitutional limits on excessive punitive damages awards. In Philip Morris USA v. Williams, the high court agreed to review a decision by the Oregon Supreme Court that affirmed a $79.5 million punitive damages award for the death of a single Oregon smoker. The punitive damages award was 97 times higher than the compensatory damages award of $821,485.

The Supreme Court agreed to consider two issues in Williams: (1) whether, in reviewing a jury’s award of punitive damages, an appellate court' s conclusion that a defendant's conduct was highly reprehensible can “override” the constitutional requirement that punitive damages be reasonably related to the plaintiff’s harm, and (2) whether the Constitution allows juries to impose punitive damages to punish a company for the effects of its conduct on non-parties.

The Williams decision will be the first United States Supreme Court decision to address the question of excessive punitive damages since State Farm v. Campbell in 2003, which indicated that punitive damages should generally be limited to no more than nine times the amount of compensatory damages. Despite that holding, many lower courts have continued to affirm punitive damages awards involving much larger ratios of punitive to compensatory damages.

If you are interested in participating as an amicus curiae in Williams, please contact David Axelrad at (818) 995-0800 or send an e-mail to him at daxelrad@horvitzlevy.com.

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