California Court of Appeal

In this personal injury litigation involving plaintiff's alleged exposure to defendant Union Carbide asbestos and subsequent diagnosis with mesothelioma, the jury awarded plaintiffs $30 million in compensatory damages plus $18 million in punitive damages against Union Carbide. By remittitur, the trial court reduced the compensatory damage award to $6 million. Judgment is affirmed, where: 1) the evidence was sufficient to support the verdict, as well as the compensatory and punitive damage awards; and 2) a punitive damage award equal to less than five times Union Carbide's share of the compensatory award is not constitutionally excessive, given the financial condition of the company and its highly reprehensible conduct in this case.

Appellate Information

• Decided 10/22/2014
• Published 10/22/2014

Judges

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel