A slight misunderstanding about compensatory and punitive damagesReader comment on: About That $300 Million Tobacco Verdict... Submitted by Justinian Lane (United States), Nov 29, 2009 12:45 The only reason the size of the award was based upon the net worth of the defendant is because $244 million of it was punitive damages. Punitive damage awards depend in part upon the wealth of the defendant. So under your hypo, both damage awards would be $3,000 because that type of award is an award for compensatory damages. If, however, the drivers of both vehicles were drunk and the jury wanted to award punitive damages, then the awards likely would differ due to their wealth. That makes sense: A $5,000 award against a middle class guy is going to hurt him more than a $5,000 award against a billionaire. Note: Comments are moderated by the editor and are subject to editing. Other reader comments on this item
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