Unlike the NJ workers' compensation claims, there is no cap on punitive damages available for claims under the NJ Law Against Discrimination.
Showing posts with label Punitive damages. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Punitive damages. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 3, 2024
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Florida jury awards $23 billion punitive damages against RJ Reynolds
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| R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
| This post is shared from reuters.com A Florida jury has awarded the widow of a chain smoker who died of lung cancer punitive damages of more than $23 billion in her lawsuit against the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, the nation's second-biggest cigarette maker. The judgment, returned on Friday night, was the largest in Florida history in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by a single plaintiff, according to Ryan Julison, a spokesman for the woman's lawyer, Chris Chestnut. Cynthia Robinson of Florida Panhandle city of Pensacola sued the cigarette maker in 2008 over the death of her husband, Michael Johnson. Johnson, a hotel shuttle bus driver who died of lung cancer in 1996 at age 36, smoked one to three packs a day for more 20 years, starting at age 13, Chestnut said. "He couldn't quit. He was smoking the day he died," the lawyer told Reuters on Saturday. After a four-week trial and 11 hours of jury deliberations, the jury returned a verdict granting the widow $7.3 million and the couple's son $9.6 million in compensatory damages. The same jury deliberated for another seven hours before deciding to award Robinson the additional sum of $23.6 billion in punitive damages, according to the verdict forms. Lawyers for the tobacco company, a unit of Reynolds American Inc [RAI.N] whose brands include Camel cigarettes, could not immediately be reached for comment. But J. Jeffery Raborn, vice president and assistant general counsel for R.J. Reynolds, said in a statement quoted by the New York... |
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Five Former N.F.L. Players Sue the Chiefs Over Head Injuries
Five former Kansas City Chiefs sued the team Tuesday for not warning them of the long-term dangers of concussions they say they received during their playing days.
The suit, filed in circuit court in Jackson County, Mo., is one of the first concussion-related cases against a specific N.F.L. team, and may lead to other suits.
The case against the Chiefs echoes the suits brought by thousands of N.F.L. retirees, who accused the league of negligence and fraud and sought actual and punitive damages.
In August, the N.F.L. agreed to pay $765 million to settle those cases and avoid what was sure to be a lengthy, costly and embarrassing trial. The league did not admit that it hid information on the long-term effects of head trauma from its players, as was claimed in the original complaint.
In settling the case before going to trial, the league left the door open for retirees to make other legal challenges.
The case by the five former Chiefs seeks to exploit a critical question unanswered in the suits against the N.F.L.: whether concussion-related cases should be heard by an arbitrator under the auspices of the league’s collective bargaining agreement.
Alexander Cooper, Leonard Griffin, Christopher Martin, Joseph Phillips and Kevin Porter, the plaintiffs, played all or parts of their careers from August 1987 to March 1993, when there was no collective bargaining agreement.
They also sued the Chiefs, and not the league, because under Missouri law, employees can sue...
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Thursday, November 28, 2013
Injured plant worker is awarded $28 million
| A plant worker in Lebanon, Mo., has been awarded $28 million after a jury found an air conditioner compressor manufacturer responsible for causing a serious respiratory injury. The jury verdict, reached last week in Laclede County, Mo., requires Copeland Scroll Compressors LLC to pay Philip Berger $23 million in punitive damages and $5 million in actual damages. Berger was represented by the Independence law firm of Humphrey, Farrington & McClain. The worker contracted a lung inflammation after allegedly being exposed to mold, microbes and bacteria found in the fluids that the plant used to cool cutting tools and workplace surfaces, the law firm said. Copeland is owned by Emerson Climate Technologies of St. Louis County. Copeland’s lawyer, Joseph Orlet, said that the plant is a “very safe work environment” and that management follows safety standards. Emerson plans to appeal.  |
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Truck driver alleges firing based on work comp claim
 Sandra Terry filed a lawsuit Sept. 17 in Madison County Circuit Court against TMCI, Peoplease Corporation and Thomas J. Manville. In her complaint, Terry alleges she was working as a truck driver for TMCI on Aug. 9, 2008, when she suffered an injury. Because she was injured while working, Terry filed for workers’ compensation benefits including medical treatment and time off work, according to the complaint. On Sept. 20, 2008, TMCI fired Terry, the suit states. Manville authorized her termination, knowing that it happened because of her workers’ compensation claim, the complaint says. In her complaint, Terry seeks general damages of more than $100,000, plus lost wages and benefits, pre-judgment interest, punitive and exemplary damages, costs and other relief the court deems just. D. Jeffrey Ezra of Ezra and Associates in Collinsville will be representing her. Madison County Circuit Court case number: 13-L-1563. |
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Fla. appeals court says $33M in damages to smoker’s widow not excessive
A Florida appeals court this week denied a tobacco company’s request for a new trial in a lawsuit brought against the company by the widow of a former smoker.
Also Wednesday, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal upheld a $33 million award to the widow, Dorothy Alexander, saying the damages were not excessive.
After a three-week trial, the jury found in favor of Alexander on her claims against Lorillard Tobacco Company for strict liability, fraudulent concealment, conspiracy to commit fraud by concealment and negligence, but found Alexander’s husband, Coleman, 20 percent comparatively liable.
The jury awarded Alexander $20 million in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages.
Lorillard filed multiple post-trial motions, including motions seeking remittitur of the compensatory and punitive damages awards.
The Miami-Dade County Circuit Court denied all of Lorillard’s post-trial motions except the motion for remittitur of the compensatory damages award and remitted the compensatory damages award to $10 million.
After computation of comparative fault, Alexander was awarded $8 million in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages, which the trial court declined to remit.
Lorillard appealed.
On appeal, the tobacco company basically reiterated its post-trial claims of error. Additionally, it claimed that it is entitled to a new trial on compensatory damages rather than the...
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