Damages
One aspect of product liability cases that frequently gets misconstrued is the damage award. Over the last decade, rising compensation costs have kept domestic companies on their toes. Simultaneously, while there is great opportunity for international commerce in the US market, foreign businesses are at greater risk if they are sued and lose a product liability dispute. Just since 1994, the average amount of compensation in a US product liability case in which the plaintiff was killed was $600,000. By the beginning of the 21st century, this number had risen to $1.6 million per case and is steadily increasing to this day.
There are a variety of damage awards that a jury may award in a product liability case including:
- Compensatory damages
- Awarded to reimburse the claimant for financial loss or bodily harm.
- Loss of consortium
- Awarded to support the spouse of a claimant who has suffered catastrophic injury or death.
- Medical damages
- Damages for pain and suffering
- Punitive damages
- Awarded when evidence proves specific aspects of the case to be true or false. Usually, the claimant must prove through compelling evidence that willful, reckless, or malevolent behavior by the defendant is responsible for the damages in question.
In reply to some high-profile cases, such as the infamous case of McDonald’s scalding coffee being spilled on a customer, some states have launched tort reform initiatives that limit the total of punitive damages that a plaintiff can receive. The US Supreme Court has implemented legislation which states that the proportion of compensatory to punitive damages should not exceed 9:1. However, Florida law declares that a punitive damage award any higher than three times the amount of compensatory damage is gratuitous and is subject to a cap. In addition, 35 percent of each punitive damage award is sequestered by the state of Florida, and the plaintiff is allowed to keep the difference.