Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are non-compensatory damages that punish or discourage negative behavior; punitive damages penalize the defendant responsible for willingly acting unnecessarily in a cruel, violent, or otherwise despicable manner. Punitive damages are also referred to as exemplary damages since they make an example out of the defendant in order to hopefully prevent others from following suit. Punitive damages are only granted as a supplement to a compensatory damages award. Punitive damages are almost never allowed in contract infringement cases.
Establishing the value of a punitive damages award entails meticulous dissection of the defendant’s behavior and mental state at the exact time that the act of wrongdoing occurred. As opposed to compensatory damages, punitive damages cases allow evidence that reveals the defendant’s net worth to be admissible in court. The law sometimes permits double or triple damages as a punitive measure. For example, a car dealership that “rolls back” a vehicle’s odometer to show a fraudulent amount of mileage is subject to up to a payout of triple the damages. A multiplier can also be applied to damages in antitrust, trademark, patent, and consumer protection cases.
The legality of punitive damages has recently been called into question on the basis that it abuses the Eighth Amendment’s embargo on excessive fines and the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process clause. So far, the defense has had very little success using a constitutional challenge to support their case. In one trial, the Supreme Court endorsed a punitive damages award that was greater than 500 times the total of the compensatory award.
When a judge concludes that a ruling on a damages case is extreme or insufficient, the judge may reevaluate the award without demanding a retrial or suggesting an appeal. If a verdict is decidedly inadequate, the judge has the right to order additur, or an increase in damages to be awarded agreed upon by the jury. However, if the outcome is unquestionably excessive, the judge reserves the right to ask for remittitur, or a decrease in damages awarded to the plaintiff.