A jury calculated economic damages at $1.47 million which included medical expenses, lost earnings, lost retirement benefits and the value of household services, and noneconomic damages for pain, suffering, emotional distress and loss of a spouse’s consortium at $2.5 million. By the time of the separate trial for punitive damages, all but one defendant had settled. That defendant was found to have a 15 percent share of the fault, and to be severally or jointly and severally responsible for $1.845 million of the award. The jury returned a verdict awarding $4.5 million in punitive damages against that defendant. The trial court declined to reduce the award. The appellate court affirmed: “This single digit ratio [2.4 times the $1.845 share of compensatory damages] is well within the range for comparable cases, and is not extraordinarily high.” Bankhead v. Arvinmeritor, Inc. (Cal. App. First Dist., Div. 4; April 19, 2012) (As Mod. April 25, 2012) 205 Cal.App.4th 68.
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