Opinion ID: 625108
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Grossly Excessive Damages and Profits

Text: A verdict based on the bias, passion, or sympathy of the jury cannot be permitted to stand. Plumbers & Steamfitters Union, Local No. 598 v. Dillion, 255 F.2d 820, 824 (9th Cir.1958) (citing Ford Motor Co. v. Mahone, 205 F.2d 267 (4th Cir.1953); S. Pac. Co. v. Guthrie, 186 F.2d 926 (9th Cir.1951)); see also Baldwin v. Warwick, 213 F.2d 485 (9th Cir.1954). Beyond obvious bias or passion, a verdict will also not be sustained on appeal if it is grossly excessive or monstrous. Id. However, in assessing whether a damages award is grossly excessive, [t]he fact that the jury may have agreed with [the plaintiff's expert] and rejected the defendant's contentions ... does not render the verdict `grossly excessive or monstrous.' Hemmings v. Tidyman's, Inc., 285 F.3d 1174, 1191 (9th Cir.2002). SKYRIDE contends that the entire judgment (actual damages, profits, and the statutory damages award for cybersquatting) should be vacated because it is grossly excessive and punitive. We disagree. SKYRIDE claims that because SKYRIDE is not a big company and because its nationwide gross revenues since 2003 are only $23 million that it should not be held accountable for a final damages award of over $10 million. SKYRIDE fails to present us with any authority, however, allowing a defendant to escape liability for trademark infringement and false advertising damages by claiming, essentially, that it is too small to justify such a large award. To that end, SKYRIDE's authority is completely inapposite. Plumbers & Steamfitters Union involved a breach of contract claim against a labor union in which the jury relied upon conspiracy evidence to award excessive damages against a defendant who had only been in business for three months. 255 F.2d at 824. Baldwin involved a conspiracy to defraud a plaintiff by drugging him while he was gambling to induce losses. 213 F.3d at 485. Here, SKYRIDE argues that the damages award is grossly excessive because, given SKYRIDE's small size and gross revenues, the jury could have only been motivated by a desire to punish or unbridled speculation. We rejected the same type of argument in Hemmings, in which appellant claimed that a new trial should be granted because the size of the damages awards meant that the jury must have been motivated by sympathy or sheer guesswork. 285 F.3d at 1191. SKYRIDE is a national advertising and booking service that has operated for years using a plethora of websites and domain names, a portion of which directly targeted customers in Arizona. They fail to persuade us that the size of the damages award, in relation to the size and revenue of the company, proves that the jury's damages award was objectively excessive or shocking to the conscience. Moreover, as was the case in Hemmings, SKYRIDE's attacks on Skydive Arizona's experts and evidence do not demonstrate that a jury's damages award was grossly excessive. Accordingly, we hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying SKYRIDE's motion for a new trial.