California Court of Appeal

In an asbestos personal injury case, a punitive damages award is affirmed, where: 1) there is no legal requirement that punitive damages must be measured against a defendant's net worth; 2) there was expert testimony that the defendant corporation's net worth was not a reliable indicator of its ability to pay punitive damages, and that other indicators in its financial data merited the amount of the award; and 3) the 2.4-to-one ratio of punitive damages to compensatory damages awarded by the jury did not violate the federal due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, or the guidelines for making such awards as articulated by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Appellate Information

• Decided 04/19/2012
• Published 04/19/2012

Judges

• Ruvolo

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• McKenna, Long & Aldridge, Kazan, McClain, Lyons, Greenwood & Harley