Ninth Circuit Imposes 3 to 1 Ratio on Punitive Damages Award

On Friday, the Ninth Circuit issued its opinion in Southern Union v. Irvin (available here). The court previously had vacated and remanded the original punitive award, which was 153 times the compensatories. On remand, the trial court reduced the punitive damages award to $4 million, and the defendant appealed again. This time the Ninth Circuit decided that 3 to 1 was the right ratio and reduced the punitive damages award to just over $1.8 million. For an article on the decision go here. --posted by Sheila B. Scheuerman on TortsProf Blog.