Tuesday, July 22, 2014

drag2share: Here's The Logic Behind A Jury's Decision To Award $23 Billion To One Florida Woman

source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/1KupO9NDrCQ/why-juries-are-giving-billions-of-dollars-to-individuals-2014-7

Cynthia Robinson A Florida jury recently awarded Cynthia Robinson $23.6 billion in punitive damages in her lawsuit against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., filed on behalf of her husband who died of lung cancer at 36 from smoking since he was 13 years old. Robinson had argued R.J. Reynolds intentionally hid the health hazards caused by its product, according to The New York Times.

Unlike compensatory damages where money is awarded to compensate for proven harm, loss, and injury, punitive damages are intended as punishment for a defendant's especially harmful behavior. 

Although R.J. Reynolds is planning to file a motion for a reduction in the verdict, $23.6 billion is an astounding sum of money for a jury to award one individual, far larger than the $16.8 million in compensatory damages also awarded to Robinson. J. Jeffery Raborn, vice president and assistant general counsel for R. J. Reynolds, called the award a "runaway verdict" in a statement quoted by The New York Times.

"The damages awarded in this case are grossly excessive and impermissible under state and constitutional law," he said. "This verdict goes far beyond the realm of reasonableness and fairness and is completely inconsistent with the evidence presented." 

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