Credit: SkyLine/stock.adobe.com Federal Judge Cuts $20M Punitive Damages Award to $1M Over Constitutionality Concerns
"The court's opinion makes it clear that the conduct of the defendant was reprehensible. The court reduced the amount of punitive damages, not because of the nature of the conduct, or because of the court's own feelings about the conduct, but rather on its analysis of Supreme Court law on the constitutionality of the ratio between compensatory and punitive damages," said the plaintiff's attorney, Jamie Bordas of Bordas & Bordas in Pittsburgh.
September 06, 2024 at 05:44 PM
4 minute read
A federal judge in Pennsylvania slashed a jury's $20 million punitive damages award in favor of an employee to $1 million, finding the ratio between the multimillion-dollar punitive damages amount and a $500,000 compensatory damages award to be disproportionate.
In April, a jury awarded the plaintiff, Patricia Holmes, $20 million in punitive damages, and $500,000 in compensatory damages in a hostile work environment case against home health services company American HomePatient. The defendant subsequently filed a renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law, a motion for a new trial or remittitur, or a motion to amend the judgment.
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