Court Opinion

ID: 9622828
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 06:24:09.546185+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:05:20.801233
License: Public Domain

*967BENCH, Judge:
(concurring and dissenting).
I concur, except in the amount of punitive damages awarded. To that section of the main opinion, I dissent.
In Bundy v. Century Equipment Company, Inc., 692 P.2d 754 (Utah 1984), the Utah Supreme Court held “grossly disproportionate” punitive damages that were 11.72 times greater than the actual damages. Yet, in this case, the majority has allowed punitive damages 50 times greater than the actual damages. I concede that the amount of actual damages is only one of several factors to be considered and that there is a basis for “substantial” punitive damages in this case. Because of the defendant’s relative wealth and ill will, and to discourage recurrence of the conduct, I would allow 10 times the actual damages suffered here, reducing the punitive damages to $2,500.