Compensatory damages slashed by 80 percent but $18M punitive damages award not reduced in asbestos case

LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – A California appeals court has affirmed a jury verdict in favor of an asbestos claimant, supporting the trial court’s refusal to disturb the $18 million punitive damages award even though it reduced the compensatory damages award by 80 percent.

Judge Joan D. Klein delivered the Oct. 22 opinion in the Court of Appeal for California’s Second Appellate District affirming the lower court’s $6 million compensatory damages judgment. Judge Richard D. Aldrich concurred.