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In re New Orleans Train Car Leakage Fire Litigation
(Louisiana Supreme Court)
Punitive damages without adjudication of compensatory damages
The NAM joined other groups in an amicus brief 8/29/01 supporting an appeal of the largest punitive damages award in Louisiana history ($2.5 billion for 8,000 class members). We argued that due process does not allow the court to impose a class-wide punitive damages award before the compensatory damages claims of all class members have been adjudicated (only 20 plaintiffs' claims had been adjudicated). Punitive damages should bear some reasonable relationship with compensatory damages, and that cannot be established where compensatory damages have not been resolved. Many business groups joined together on the brief: the NAM, the American Tort Reform Association, the Chamber of Commerce, American Chemistry Council, American Petroleum Institute, Louisiana Assn. of Business and Industry, and Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association. The case was settled by the parties, and in September, 2002, the Louisiana Supreme Court dismissed the appeal as moot.
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