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Court considers damage limits©Associated PressDecember 12, 2002 WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court considered Wednesday whether there should be limits on how much plaintiffs can win in punitive damages from businesses found liable in legal cases. The case involves Curtis Campbell, a Utah man who sued his insurance company, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., because it refused to settle claims arising from a 1981 car accident that killed one driver and left another disabled. A jury found Campbell at fault in the accident and ordered him to pay the victims about $136,000 more than his $50,000 insurance policy limit. State Farm eventually paid all the damages, but Campbell and his wife still sued State Farm for punitive damages, alleging bad-faith failure to settle, fraud and emotional distress. A Utah jury awarded the Campbells $145-million in punitive damages, which was later reduced on appeal. Last year, the Utah Supreme Court reinstated the initial $145-million, taking into account State Farm's net worth and behavior in other states. The 83-year-old Campbell died of Parkinson's disease soon after the ruling. His wife, Inez, remained a party to the suit. Lawyers for State Farm urged the justices to overturn the ruling, arguing the Utah court improperly upheld the punitive award in large part because it considered unrelated out-of-state evidence of misconduct. Much of it focused on allegations that State Farm initiated a nationwide scheme in 1979 to meet corporate fiscal goals by capping payouts on claims. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups have filed briefs supporting State Farm, saying the huge punitive damages, which are 145 times the compensatory damages, could have costly ramifications for the business community.
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