Opinion ID: 202869
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Excessiveness of Pain and Suffering Damages

Text: Stiefel argues that, even if pain and suffering damages are available, the damages awards for pain and suffering of $100,000 each to Muñiz and his wife are so high, grossly excessive, inordinate and shocking to the conscience that the district court was required to give a remittitur. Our review of the denial of remittitur is for abuse of discretion. Gasperini v. Ctr. for Humanities, Inc., 518 U.S. 415, 433, 116 S.Ct. 2211, 135 L.Ed.2d 659 (1996); McDonough v. City of Quincy, 452 F.3d 8, 22 (1st Cir.2006). A defendant arguing that an award is excessive faces a demanding standard. An award will not be overturned unless it is grossly excessive or shocking to the conscience. Valentín-Almeyda, 447 F.3d at 103; see also McDonough, 452 F.3d at 22. We give special deference to a district court's view that a particular award is not excessive because that court has greater familiarity with local community standards and observed the witnesses on the stand. Valentín-Almeyda, 447 F.3d at 103. The federal standard for excessiveness applies in diversity cases from Puerto Rico. Grajales-Romero v. Am. Airlines, Inc., 194 F.3d 288, 300 (1st Cir.1999). Plaintiffs' case with respect to damages rested on their own testimony. [10] Muñiz testified about his inability to find another job, and about the shock he and his wife had experienced as a result of his termination and the eventual realization that they were going to lose everything. He was visibly emotional on the stand. Muñiz's wife gave more expansive testimony. She testified that she had become depressed and preoccupied, and that she had trouble sleeping. Her husband also had become depressed. Muñiz and his wife survived on his pension from Johnson & Johnson (which was only $450 per month), the money Muñiz had received for his stock options, and their savings. They had four children, and at one time all four were in college at the same time. Given their economic straits, Muñiz and his wife were at the point where they believed they needed to sell their family home, which was very distressing. The defense relies heavily on the fact that the plaintiff did not seek medical help for emotional distress, and had no out-of-pocket expenses. Evidence of having sought medical treatment is not required. See Rodriguez-Torres v. Carribbean Forms Mfr., Inc., 399 F.3d 52, 64 (1st Cir.2005). The jury could easily have rejected Stiefel's argument given Muñiz's cash flow worries. Often we look to comparable cases to determine if a damages award is totally out of line. There may not be any cases that are strict comparators for the pain and suffering damages awarded here, in an ordinary contract action. After all, in most jurisdictions in this country, emotional distress damages are not available as an ordinary contract remedy. See, e.g., B & M Homes, Inc. v. Hogan, 376 So.2d 667, 671 (Ala.1979); Sawyer v. Bank of Am., 83 Cal.App.3d 135, 145 Cal.Rptr. 623, 625 (1978); McClean v. Univ. Club, 327 Mass. 68, 97 N.E.2d 174 (1951); Boyce v. Greeley Square Hotel Co., 228 N.Y. 106, 126 N.E. 647, 649 (1920). We look to an imperfectly analogous area: employment discrimination law. The analogy is imperfect because Congress and various state legislatures have, for policy reasons, allowed pain and suffering damages in cases brought under Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and comparable state laws. Still, the distinction between ordinary employment contract cases and employment cases enforcing important federal or state policies goes more to whether emotional distress damages should be allowable at all, rather than to whether a particular award is excessive. Under this analogous case law, the pain and suffering damages awarded to Muñiz and his wife are not excessive. More generous awards have been upheld based on testimony similar to that here. See McDonough, 452 F.3d at 22 (affirming jury award of $300,000, the majority of which was for emotional distress, in Title VII unlawful retaliation case); Koster v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 181 F.3d 24, 36 (1st Cir.1999) (reducing emotional distress award in state law age discrimination case from $716,000 to $250,000); see also Rodriguez-Torres, 399 F.3d at 64 (affirming, on plain error review, $250,000 award in employment discrimination case).