Opinion ID: 783516
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Excessiveness of Punitive Damages Award

Text: 41 The jury awarded Rebecca DiSorbo a total of $1.275 million in punitive damages against Pedersen, including $625,000 for the excessive force claim and $650,000 for the federal and state abuse of process claims. Pedersen and the City argue that this award was excessive under the factors set forth by the Supreme Court in BMW of North America v. Gore, 517 U.S. 559, 574-75, 116 S.Ct. 1589, 134 L.Ed.2d 809 (1996). 8 42 A jury may assess punitive damages in an action under § 1983 when the defendant's conduct is shown to be motivated by evil motive or intent, or when it involves reckless or callous indifference to the federally protected rights of others. Smith v. Wade, 461 U.S. 30, 56, 103 S.Ct. 1625, 75 L.Ed.2d 632 (1983). As with compensatory damages, the standard for appellate review of punitive damages awarded under § 1983 considers whether the award is so high as to shock the judicial conscience and constitute a denial of justice. Mathie, 121 F.3d at 813 (quotations omitted). The Supreme Court in Gore identified three guideposts for determining whether a punitive damages award is excessive: 1) the degree of reprehensibility; 2) the disparity between the harm or potential harm and the punitive damages award; and 3) the difference between the remedy and the civil penalties authorized or imposed in comparable cases. Gore, 517 U.S. at 574-75, 116 S.Ct. 1589. We review a trial court's application of the Gore guideposts to a jury award de novo. Cooper Indus., Inc. v. Leatherman Tool Group, Inc., 532 U.S. 424, 443, 121 S.Ct. 1678, 149 L.Ed.2d 674 (2001). Guided by these standards, we consider each of the Gore factors in turn.
43 Perhaps the most important indicium of the reasonableness of a punitive damages award is the degree of reprehensibility of the defendant's conduct. Gore, 517 U.S. at 575, 116 S.Ct. 1589. Reprehensibility in this context entails more than merely asking whether the conduct was unacceptable. Lee v. Edwards, 101 F.3d 805, 809 (2d Cir.1996). The fact that conduct is sufficiently reprehensible so as to trigger tort liability and damages does not establish the high degree of culpability that warrants a substantial punitive damages award. Gore, 517 U.S. at 580, 116 S.Ct. 1589. The Court in Gore identified certain aggravating factors to be considered when assessing the degree of reprehensibility: 1) whether a defendant's conduct was violent or presented a threat of violence; 2) whether a defendant acted with malice as opposed to mere negligence; and 3) whether a defendant has engaged in repeated instances of misconduct. Id. at 576, 116 S.Ct. 1589. 44 Crediting Rebecca DiSorbo's version of the events at the police station, Pedersen engaged in highly reprehensible conduct that, to some extent, satisfy each of Gore 's aggravating factors. Rebecca DiSorbo alleges that Pedersen violently slammed her against the wall, choked her to the point where she began to lose vision, pushed her to the ground, and struck her while she was on the ground. The deliberate nature of these attacks demonstrate that Pedersen was not merely negligent, but was acting with malice toward Rebecca DiSorbo. Further, Rebecca DiSorbo alleges that Pedersen engaged in repeated acts of violence against her at the station. Accordingly, Pedersen's actions were sufficiently reprehensible under Gore to justify punitive damages. 45
46 To assess the appropriateness of the ratio of the punitive damages award to the harm, the proper inquiry is whether there is a reasonable relationship between the punitive damages award and the harm likely to result from the defendant's conduct as well as the harm that actually has occurred. Gore, 517 U.S. at 581, 116 S.Ct. 1589 (quotation marks and emphasis omitted). This consideration requires courts to ensure that the measure of punishment is both reasonable and proportionate to the amount of harm to the plaintiff and to the general damages recovered. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Campbell, ___ U.S. ___, 123 S.Ct. 1513, 1524, 155 L.Ed.2d 585 (2003). Our reasonableness determination does not entail a simple mathematical formula, as there may be cases where a particularly egregious act has resulted in only a small amount of economic damages. Gore, 517 U.S. at 582, 116 S.Ct. 1589; see Lee, 101 F.3d at 810-11 (refusing to rely on a mathematical multiplier to assess the reasonableness of the award where the compensatory award was nominal). 47 Consideration of the disparity between the punitive damages award and the harm provides minimal assistance in the instant case. For example, if we assume that Rebecca DiSorbo remits to yield a $250,000 compensatory damages award for the excessive force claim, the ratio between compensatory and punitive damages would be 2.5-to-1, which would not appear to be an unreasonable ratio. If we look at the abuse of process claim, however, the jury awarded only nominal compensatory damages, yielding a staggering 650,000-to-1 ratio of punitive damages to compensatory damages. We therefore conclude that the use of a multiplier to assess punitive damages is not the best tool here. Lee, 101 F.3d at 811. 48
49 The final Gore factor compares the punitive damages award with the civil and criminal penalties for comparable misconduct. Gore, 517 U.S. at 583, 116 S.Ct. 1589. The rationale for this consideration is that, if the penalties for comparable misconduct are much less than a punitive damages award, the tortfeasor lacked fair notice that the wrongful conduct could entail a sizable punitive damages award. Lee, 101 F.3d at 811. 50 The most relevant crime in New York would likely be assault in the third degree, which is a class A misdemeanor. N.Y. Pen. L. § 120.00 (A person is guilty of assault in the third degree when: 1. With intent to cause physical injury to another person, he causes such injury to such person.... Assault in the degree is a class A misdemeanor.). A class A misdemeanor carries a maximum sentence of one year, id. at § 70.15[1], and a maximum penalty of one thousand dollars, id. at § 80.05[1]. While a year's imprisonment is undoubtedly a substantial punishment, a maximum fine of $1,000 gives little warning that the action could result in a $1.275 million punitive damages award. See Lee, 101 F.3d at 811. 51 As we noted in Lee, however, criminal penalties understate the notice when the misconduct is committed by a police officer. Lee, 101 F.3d at 811. We assumed in Lee that [the defendant officer's] training as a police officer gave him notice as to the gravity of misconduct under color of his official authority, as well as notice that such misconduct could hinder his career. Id. Still, in Lee the court concluded that this guidepost weighed in favor of finding the $200,000 punitive damages award to be excessive. The court explained that, notwithstanding the officer's notice as to the gravity of his actions, nothing could conceivably have prepared him for a punitive damage award amounting to the sacrifice of the better part of a policeman's after-tax pay for a decade. Id.
52 Police brutality cannot be tolerated in our society, and punitive damages awards serve a critical role in deterring such misconduct. See State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., ___ U.S. at ___, 123 S.Ct. at 1519 (By contrast [to compensatory damages], punitive damages serve a broader function; they are aimed at deterrence and retribution.). Pedersen abused a position of respect and authority to commit malicious and repeated acts of violence against a vastly weaker and helpless victim. We are thoroughly convinced that this conduct was sufficiently reprehensible to justify some degree of punitive damages. There must, however, be an upper limit to that award, and after carefully evaluating the Gore factors, and taking into consideration the sizable compensatory damages award Rebecca DiSorbo would receive if she remits, we are compelled to conclude that the $1.275 million punitive damages award exceeded that limit. See id. at 1526. 53 To determine the appropriate level of punitive damages, we assess such awards in other police misconduct cases. See Lee, 101 F.3d at 812. The defendant officer in Lee struck the plaintiff, who was handcuffed, eight or nine times in the head with his police baton, to the point where the plaintiff was knocked unconscious and had to be hospitalized. Id. at 807-08. Although similar to the instant case, the brutality of these strikes seems to have been more severe than those inflicted by Pedersen on Rebecca DiSorbo, as Pedersen did not use a weapon and did not beat her to the point of unconsciousness. After weighing the Gore factors, we determined in Lee that the jury's $200,000 punitive damages award was excessive, and ordered a new trial unless the plaintiff agreed to remit $125,000, and accepted a $75,000 punitive damages award. Id. at 813. 54 In Ismail, we upheld a $150,000 punitive damages verdict. As discussed supra, the defendant officer in Ismail struck the plaintiff in the side of the head without warning, causing him to lose consciousness, pressed his gun against the plaintiff's head, implanted his knee into the plaintiff's back, and threatened to kill the plaintiff. Ismail, 899 F.2d at 185. The officer's conduct in Ismail appears to have been even more reprehensible than the conduct in our case. While Rebecca DiSorbo suffered a heinous attack at the hands of Pedersen, Pedersen did not beat Rebecca DiSorbo to the point of losing consciousness, never brandished a firearm, and never threatened her life. 55 We find further guidance from O'Neill, where we upheld a $185,000 punitive damages award for the brutal beating by several police officers of a defenseless plaintiff at a police station. The plaintiff, while handcuffed and unable to defend himself, was struck repeatedly in the face and head, with at least one blow struck by using a blackjack. O'Neill, 839 F.2d at 10. An officer then dragged [the plaintiff] by the throat across the detention area, castigating him for `bleeding all over my floor.' Id. Pedersen's use of excessive force was of a different order than the beating inflicted by the officers in O'Neill. Moreover, the jury in the case before us only found liability based on a single officer's misconduct, rather than several officers as was the situation in O'Neill. 56 Upon careful review of misconduct in these cases, we are compelled to conclude that a punitive damages award of $75,000 more accurately reflects the severity of Pedersen's acts under the Gore guideposts. We therefore remand for a new trial on punitive damages, unless Rebecca DiSorbo agrees to remit $1.2 million, yielding a $75,000 punitive damages award, which is comparable to the upper limits of the punitive damages awarded in similar police brutality cases. 9