Following a series of rulings from a trial judge this week, an appeal targeting the state’s punitive damage cap is headed straight to the Georgia Supreme Court.

The case at hand involves a 2019 verdict for $10 million in compensatory damages, with 50% of the fault apportioned to Devereux Foundation, operator of mental health treatment centers. The jury put the other half of the blame on a Devereux employee now serving prison time. The employee was convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old patient who had been admitted there for treatment of multiple traumas stemming from previous childhood sexual abuse, starting when she was 8. The jury also added $50 million in punitive damages, which the judge reduced to the $250,000 cap.

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