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picado t1_j3nojum wrote

Virginia state law caps punitive damages to a maximum $350,000, so this was automatic. The judge wasn't making any decisions about the merits of the case.

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tehmlem t1_j3s1d2h wrote

This happens for nearly any big number punitive damages you hear about. Juries grant huge amounts and then state law limits it either with a flat cap as in this case or with extremely onerous requirements for proving the damages are directly related to the offending behavior.

In both cases they're designed to protect businesses from meaningful penalties and usually arrived on a wave of propaganda about how America is too litigious and plaintiffs are just looking for a payday.

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[deleted] t1_j3o7ceg wrote

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PropChop t1_j3o90q2 wrote

That's not what punitive damages are.

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[deleted] t1_j3obmj7 wrote

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putsch80 t1_j3oeeaw wrote

No, you literally are missing everything. This sentence alone tells me that:

>Diverting ENTIRELY from the fact that odds are good that the first number was accurate towards the damage caused.

Punitive damages aren’t meant to reflect compensation for damage cause. There is an entirely separate class of damages (compensatory damages) which deal with that and which are not covered by any sort of cap or by this judge’s decision. The sole, entire and exclusive province of punitive damages is to punish the tortfeasor, irrespective of the financial amount of damage they caused.

-Signed,

A white man who hates racist assholes, including not only the ones who carry tiki torches in Virginia but also the ones who assume opinions are automatically invalid because they came from a white person.

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[deleted] t1_j3ofeoq wrote

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z0nb1 t1_j3ohjlg wrote

What part of punitive vs compensatory damages did you not understand?

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Thegarbagegamer97 t1_j3oijcj wrote

Dont waste your breath on people like that. Reasoning and logic are beyond their angry irrational brain’s capacity

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PropChop t1_j3odp3h wrote

Go be pissed at the world somewhere else.

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[deleted] t1_j3oe4oa wrote

Yes. Because you own this sub and this thread. Narcissism is a hell of a drug homie.

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