In a case decided yesterday, a jury verdict awarding $750,000 in compensatory damages and $300,00 in punitive damages, as well as an approx. $130,000 in back pay and front pay, was upheld by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. Click here to read the decision: West v. Tyson

One interesting issue involved the defendant’s request that the compensatory damage award of $750,000 be remitted. (Opinion at 29-31).

At trial, the plaintiff requested that the jury award up to $500,000 in compensatory damages. Notwithstanding the plaintiff’s request, the jury proceeded to award the plaintiff $750,000 ($500,000 for past emotional distress and $250,000 for ongoing emotional distress). Now, this is my kind of jury.

On appeal, the defendant argued that an award of compensatory damages beyond that requested by the plaintiff must be remitted. This argument was rejected by the 6th Circuit.

While it acknowledged that an award in excess of that requested was a factor to be considered when entertaining a motion for remittitur, the Court disagreed that it was bound as a matter of law to reduce the award to an amount that had been requested. Instead, the Court held that the proper legal standard simply required it to determine whether the award “is beyond the maximum damages that the jury reasonably could find to be compensatory for a party’s loss.” (Op. at 30). And based on the Court’s review of the evidence, an award of $750,000 was not beyond the max a jury could have awarded.