Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Warren Ettinger reduced the largest punitive damages award ever granted in an individual smoking case, from $28 billion to $28 million. Judge Ettinger ruled the original award was excessive because it was 33,000 times greater than the $850,000 in compensatory damages in the case. The ruling reducing the award was expected, previous record for an individual smoking case was reduced from $3 billion to $100 million.
A jury awarded the $28 billion to lifelong smoker Betty Bullock in October, after hearing evidence that Philip Morris had known smoking was addictive and caused lung cancer for 50 years.
(via The Recorder)
Comments on this entry are closed.