Law Center Search Results

The NAM filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to reverse the lower court’s decision awarding a judgment of more than $20 million in punitive damages—a 5:1 ratio of punitive to compensatory damages—with no explanation and in a case with only economic harm, no physical harm. The lower court awarded plaintiffs compensatory awards totaling more than $4 million against Kimberly-Clark and added the excessive punitive damages, ignoring constitutional limits and U.S. Supreme Court precedent that generally limits the ratio to 1:1. Excessive punitive damages unjustly punish manufacturers and discourage efficient settlement of cases, especially where, as in this case, no physical harm occurred. The NAM’s brief explains why punitive damages exceeding a 1:1 ratio are inconsistent with constitutional due process and excessive when the harm is purely economic in nature. On July 23, 2020, the Ninth Circuit reversed on other grounds, holding that the plaintiff lacked standing and could not bring claims on behalf of a class.