The Supreme Court will decide if tobacco giant Philip Morris must pay nearly $80 million in damages to the family of a longtime smoker, Jesse D. Williams. At $79.5 million, the award in the Oregon case is more than 150 times the $521,000 actual damages awarded by the jury.
The outcome of this case will determine if companies could be shielded from large jury awards. A 2001 U.S. Supreme Court ruling had recommended there should be no more than a 9-to-1 ratio between punitive damages and other compensatory damages.
Read "Court Trims $ 150 Million Tobacco Award" posted on May 18.
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