In Daka, Inc. v. McCrae, Nos. 00-CV-1270 and 01-CV-227 (D.C. Dec. 24, 2003), the D.C. Court of Appeals vacated a jury award for punitive damages in a case involving negligent supervision of a managerial employee and unlawful retaliation against plaintiff for his claims of sexual harassment by that manager. The jury had awarded $187,500 in compensatory damages, $4,812,500 in punitive damages, and $276,493.28 in attorney's fees and costs.
The claim was brought by a male chef based on sexual harassment by a male supervisor.
The Court found that the punitive damages award, reflecting a ratio of 26:1 to the compensatory damages award, lacked the reasonableness and proportionality required for a punitive damages award.
The Court vacated the award and remanded the case to the trial court with directions to reduce the award of punitive damages to a sum consistent with the principles expressed by State Farm v. Campbell and this opinion. The Court noted that an award in this case that multiplies the sum awarded for compensatory damages by more than a factor of five will bear a very heavy burden of justification.
On remand, the plaintiff will not receive the option of accepting the remitted amount or a new trial on punitive damages. That is because the amount to be determined by the judge is the constitutional maximum which the jury could properly award, an amount that is actual award has already exceeded.