Stand-alone punitive award in Title VII case cleared by Fifth Circuit.

Trial, March, 2008 by Porter, Rebecca

Clarifying its own "mixed case law" on the question, the Fifth Circuit has held that a jury's award of punitive damages in a Title VII case can stand even without an accompanying award of compensatory damages. Such an award does not violate the defendant's due process rights because the statute includes a punitive damages cap, the court concluded. (Abner v. Kan. City S. R.R. Co., 2008 WL 40106 (5th Cir. Jan. 2, 2008).)

The court had previously held that "there is no established federal common law rule that precludes the award of punitive damages in the absence of an award of compensatory damages." (La. ACORN Fair Housing v. LeBlanc, 211 F.3d 298 (5th Cir. 2000).)

Reviewing its own decisions on the issue, the court noted that it had upheld punitives in...

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