Two weeks ago, the Oregon Supreme Court affirmed a punitive damage award of $80 million against Philip Morris. Now that case is the one where the United States Supreme Court expressly told the Oregon court that a punitive damage award is not allowed when the jury is allowed to base its award on harm that was suffered by persons other than the Plaintiff.
This is the third time that the case has been heard by the Oregon Court. And, it sets up an argument that the Oregon court is actually thumbing its judicial nose at the Supreme Court. This time, the Oregon court recognized that the Supreme Court said that the award was constitutionally infirm - because it violated the due process clause. But, the Oregon judges now say that they need not follow the Supreme Court's ruling because there were state law procedural defects in raising this issue. Specifically, Philip Morris did not make a valid objection to the jury instructions, and Philip Morris did not submit a jury instruction that was valid under State law.
The obvious tactic of the Oregon court is to do whatever is necessary to punish the evil tobacco company, now by basing its decision affirming the award on an "independent state ground". The United States Supreme Court clearly has said that a punitive damage award cannot stand if it is a multiple of more than 10 times the actual damages. In short, it is fairly clear that the award is wrong under the due process clause, and it will be interesting to see if Philip Morris appeals back to the United States Supreme Court to make sure that the "multiple of actual damages" rule is expressly applied to this case.
This is the third time that the case has been heard by the Oregon Court. And, it sets up an argument that the Oregon court is actually thumbing its judicial nose at the Supreme Court. This time, the Oregon court recognized that the Supreme Court said that the award was constitutionally infirm - because it violated the due process clause. But, the Oregon judges now say that they need not follow the Supreme Court's ruling because there were state law procedural defects in raising this issue. Specifically, Philip Morris did not make a valid objection to the jury instructions, and Philip Morris did not submit a jury instruction that was valid under State law.
The obvious tactic of the Oregon court is to do whatever is necessary to punish the evil tobacco company, now by basing its decision affirming the award on an "independent state ground". The United States Supreme Court clearly has said that a punitive damage award cannot stand if it is a multiple of more than 10 times the actual damages. In short, it is fairly clear that the award is wrong under the due process clause, and it will be interesting to see if Philip Morris appeals back to the United States Supreme Court to make sure that the "multiple of actual damages" rule is expressly applied to this case.
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