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I think the conceptually messed up part is, when such an award includes separate components for compensatory damages and punitive damages, the plaintiff receive
by abeppu 1y ago
I think the conceptually messed up part is, when such an award includes separate components for compensatory damages and punitive damages, the plaintiff receives the punitive damages even if they're part of a much broader class that was impacted by the conduct in question. E.g. how many people's choice to purchase a Tesla was influenced by the deceptive marketing? How many other people had accidents or some damages? I think there ought to be a mechanism where the punitive portion rolls into the beginning of a fund for a whole class, and could be used to defray some costs of bringing a larger class action, or dispersed directly to other parties.
- MBCook 1y agoSo if I make a lawsuit and prove there is a small possibility my toaster can cause my arm to be cut off, because that’s what it did to me, and win $400,000,000 I should only get $400 if it turns out they sold 1 million units? It’s not a class action lawsuit. If they want their cash they should sue too. That’s how our system works.
- Dylan16807 1y agoNo, you misread that pretty significantly. They're only talking about splitting up the punitive damages. Using the tesla numbers you'd get somewhere between 43 and 129 million dollars personally, plus a share of the 200 million. And your share of the 200 million would probably be a lot higher than someone merely defrauded. And the 200 million would probably get a lot bigger in a proper class action. If you want numbers for your theoretical you'll have to specify how much was compensatory and how much was punitive.