Punitive damages

Punitive Damages are awarded in excess of compensatory damages and are often awarded where compensatory damages are deemed an inadequate remedy for some reason. However, while the plaintiff will in fact receive all or some portion of the punitive damage award, the purpose of punitive damages is not to compensate the plaintiff. Punitive Damages may be awarded to deter the defendant, and others from engaging in conduct similar to that which formed the basis of the judgment.

Punitive Damages are limited by constitutional due process requirements. Section 768.74, Florida Statutes, provides criteria for evaluating awards of damages and mandates that courts subject awards of damages to close scrutiny and make certain that they be adequate and not excessive. Id.

“The three criteria a punitive damages award must satisfy under Florida law to pass constitutional muster are: (1) ‘the manifest weight of the evidence does not render the amount of punitive damages assessed out of all reasonable proportion to the malice, outrage, or wantonness of the tortuous conduct;’ (2) the award ‘bears some relationship to the defendant's ability to pay and does not result in economic castigation or bankruptcy to the defendant;’ and (3) a reasonable relationship exists between the compensatory and punitive amounts awarded.” R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. Martin, 53 So.3d 1060, 1072 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010) (citing Engle v. Liggett Group, Inc., 945 So.2d 1246, 1263 (Fla.2006)).

“Under Florida law, a trial court's determination of whether a damage award is excessive, requiring a remittitur or a new trial, is reviewed by an appellate court under an abuse of discretion standard .” Engle, 945 So.2d at 1263; see also City of Hollywood v. Hogan, 986 So.2d 634, 647 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008); Weinstein Design Group, Inc. v. Fielder, 884 So.2d 990, 1002 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004). In ruling on a motion for remittitur, the trial court must evaluate the verdict in light of the evidence presented at trial and the constitutional due process requirements. Hogan, 986 So.2d at 648.