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LOS ANGELES, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Philip Morris plans to appeal a verdict in a California smoking lawsuit though the trial judge slashed the $28 billion punitive damage award down to $28 million.
The cigarette maker said late Wednesday that even at $28 million, the award was still far more than the amount called for under a Supreme Court ruling limiting punitive damages to a 4-to-1 ratio to compensatory damages.
"The court recognized that the jury's punitive damage award was excessive, but failed to do what Philip Morris believes was required under these circumstances -- reversal of the entire verdict and a new trial ordered," Philip Morris Vice President William Ohlemeyer said in a statement.
Betty Bullock of Newport Beach was awarded $850,000 in compensatory damages on Sept. 26, after which the Los Angeles Superior Court jury determined that Philip Morris should pay an additional $28 billion in punitive damages.
Philip Morris said that while Judge Warren Ettinger's reduction of the award Wednesday brought the 33,000-to-1 ratio down to 33-to-1, the Supreme Court had determined that 4-to-1 was the constitutional limit of punitive awards.
Ettinger's instructions to the jury had stated that there was "no bright line" for deciding when an award was excessive, the Los Angeles Times said. Those instructions will be part of Philip Morris's appeal as will its contention that the 64-year-old Bullock was well aware of the risks posed by smoking when she took up the habit at age 17.
"When a verdict is inconsistent with the law and the facts, it is the responsibility of the trial court to rectify the situation by overturning the verdict," said Ohlemeyer. "That didn't happen in this case, and that's why the company will pursue its appeal."
Bullock's lawyers expressed some dismay Wednesday at the reduction of the award.
"This is not a real punishment for Philip Morris," lawyer Michael Piuze told the Times.
Bullock has until Dec. 27 to decide whether to accept the $28 million or seek a new trial on the punitive damages award.
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