punitive damages News

Gawker, Publisher to Pay $25M in Punitive Damages in Hulk Hogan Lawsuit

A Florida jury awarded punitive damages totaling $25 million on Monday in a second blow to Gawker, coming on top of the $115 million the online news outlet must pay for posting a sex tape of the former professional wrestler …

U.S. Sues Volkswagen, Seeks Up to $80 Billion in Penalties

The U.S. Justice Department sued Volkswagen AG for installing illegal devices meant to defeat emissions testing, and laid out claims that could push penalties into the tens of billions of dollars — an opening salvo in a legal battle that …

Idaho Shop Owner Ordered to Pay 100K to Worker Fired After Safety Report

A judge ordered a northern Idaho gas station owner to pay $100,000 to a former employee who was fired after reporting safety violations, including exposed wiring near water leaks and a lack of first aid equipment. U.S. District Judge B. …

California Court Cuts Damages to $2.8M in Jehovah’s Sex Abuse Case

An appeals court has trimmed to $2.8 million the damages awarded to a woman who said the Jehovah’s Witnesses allowed an adult member of a Northern California church to molest her when she was a child in the mid-1990s. Candice …

Judge In California Gender Bias Case Oks Punitive Damages

A judge in a high-profile gender discrimination lawsuit will allow a former partner at venture firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers to seek punitive damages, adding to the potential pricetag for the firm if it loses the case. In his …

Large Product Liability Awards Made Comeback in 2014

Huge jury verdicts against companies over fatal flaws in their products made a comeback last year, which may foretell more bad news for carmakers with defective parts. Absent for a decade, billion-dollar verdicts returned in product defect suits in 2014. …

Montana Judge Approves $73M Punitive Award Against Hyundai

Hyundai Motor Co. must pay $73 million in punitive damages to the families of two Montana teenagers killed in 2011 crash blamed on a steering defect, a judge said. Lake County District Judge Deborah Kim Christopher rejected Hyundai’s bid to …

Florida Jury’s $23.6B Tobacco Award Likely to Be Reduced

A decision by a Florida jury to impose punitive damages of $23.6 billion against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. on Friday is likely to be rejected on appeal or the award reduced substantially, lawyers with expertise in jury awards said on …

Penn. Family Awarded $18M in Bad Faith Suit Against Nationwide

An insurance company that was tongue-lashed in a decision last month by a Pennsylvania judge is contesting his ruling that it pay $18 million in punitive damages after a long court battle over faulty repairs to a family’s vehicle in …

Montana Jury Says Hyundai Owes $240M In Punitive Damages

A Montana jury has ordered Hyundai to pay $240 million in punitive damages after finding that a manufacturing defect in a Hyundai vehicle caused a crash that killed two Missoula cousins in July 2011. Lake County jurors late Tuesday awarded …