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How are damages calculated in cases like this?

by mongol 4y ago

tptacek 4y ago
A trial is held, and the defendant is found liable or not. If they're liable, a damages phase occurs where both sides argue about the amount of compensatory damages owed. Compensatory damages have to be linked to actual damages; they're factual, not expressive. The jury can then decide that punitive damages are owed; a punitive damages phase occurs, where both sides argue how much should be awarded punitively. Punitive damages are expressive and not linked to actual financial losses, beyond that they're capped at a low multiple of the compensatory damages. Oberlin was assessed $11M in compensatory damages.
Tangurena2 4y ago
It depends on the state and the court. Some only allow for actual/measured damages. Some allow for punitive damages. Some let the juries pull numbers out of their exhaust ports. In my opinion, whenever cases like this end up in the media, someone is peddling a political opinion. > The plaintiff, Stella Liebeck (1912-2004),[2] a 79-year-old woman, suffered third-degree burns in her pelvic region when she accidentally spilled coffee in her lap after purchasing it from a McDonald's restaurant. She was hospitalized for eight days while undergoing skin grafting, followed by two years of medical treatment. Liebeck sought to settle with McDonald's for $20,000 to cover her medical expenses. When McDonald's refused, Liebeck's attorney filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico, accusing McDonald's of gross negligence. > Liebeck's attorneys argued that, at 180–190 °F (82–88 °C), McDonald's coffee was boiling hot and more likely to cause serious injury than coffee served at any other establishment. The jury found that McDonald's was 80 percent responsible for the incident. They awarded Liebeck $200,000[3] in compensatory damages to cover medical expenses, and $2.7 million (equivalent to $5,000,000 in 2021) in punitive damages, the equivalent of two days of McDonald's coffee sales. The trial judge reduced the punitive damages to three times the amount of the compensatory damages, totalling $640,000. The parties settled for a confidential amount before an appeal was decided. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald%27s_Restaurants https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald%27s_Restau... This case was highly publicized and used as a political boogeyman to scare the public into thinking that lawsuits were out of control.

How are damages calculated in cases like this?

by mongol 4y ago

How are damages calculated in cases like this?

A trial is held, and the defendant is found liable or not. If they're liable, a damages phase occurs where both sides argue about the amount of compensatory damages owed. Compensatory damages have to be linked to actual damages; they're factual, not expressive. The jury can then decide that punitive damages are owed; a punitive damages phase occurs, where both sides argue how much should be awarded punitively. Punitive damages are expressive and not linked to actual financial losses, beyond that they're capped at a low multiple of the compensatory damages. Oberlin was assessed $11M in compensatory damages.

Tangurena2 4y ago

It depends on the state and the court. Some only allow for actual/measured damages. Some allow for punitive damages. Some let the juries pull numbers out of their exhaust ports. In my opinion, whenever cases like this end up in the media, someone is peddling a political opinion. > The plaintiff, Stella Liebeck (1912-2004),[2] a 79-year-old woman, suffered third-degree burns in her pelvic region when she accidentally spilled coffee in her lap after purchasing it from a McDonald's restaurant. She was hospitalized for eight days while undergoing skin grafting, followed by two years of medical treatment. Liebeck sought to settle with McDonald's for $20,000 to cover her medical expenses. When McDonald's refused, Liebeck's attorney filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico, accusing McDonald's of gross negligence. > Liebeck's attorneys argued that, at 180–190 °F (82–88 °C), McDonald's coffee was boiling hot and more likely to cause serious injury than coffee served at any other establishment. The jury found that McDonald's was 80 percent responsible for the incident. They awarded Liebeck $200,000[3] in compensatory damages to cover medical expenses, and $2.7 million (equivalent to $5,000,000 in 2021) in punitive damages, the equivalent of two days of McDonald's coffee sales. The trial judge reduced the punitive damages to three times the amount of the compensatory damages, totalling $640,000. The parties settled for a confidential amount before an appeal was decided. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald%27s_Restaurants https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald%27s_Restau... This case was highly publicized and used as a political boogeyman to scare the public into thinking that lawsuits were out of control.