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Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp. v. Malone6/5/1998
he fact that OCF has actually paid only $3 million in punitive damages for the same conduct, we cannot say that the punitive damage awards here, when aggregated with other paid punitive damage awards against OCF, can be characterized as grossly excessive and beyond the legitimate interests of punishment and deterrence. We therefore conclude, as have other courts when considering OCF's same arguments under similar facts, that "the evidence produced by OCF falls short of demonstrating a due process violation." Spaur, 510 N.W.2d at 867 (record reflected that OCF had paid $3 million in punitive damages); see also Stevens, 57 Cal. Rptr.2d at 539-40 ("Without any showing of punitive damages actually assessed and paid [by OCF], the evidence fell far short of demonstrating `overkill.'").
We affirm the court of appeals' judgment in Wasiak.
IV. CONCLUSION
We hold in Malone that evidence about the profitability of a defendant's misconduct and about past settlements that specify amounts for punitive damages or about other paid punitive damage awards for the same course of conduct is relevant and admissible for the fact finder to consider when the defendant offers such evidence in mitigation of punitive damages. We also hold that the punitive damage awards in Wasiak do not violate the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause, either by themselves, or when aggregated with other punitive damages previously paid by Owens-Corning Fiberglas for the same conduct. We affirm the courts of appeals' judgments.
James A. Baker, Justice
OPINION DELIVERED: June 5, 1998
On Application for Writ of Error to the Court of Appeals for the Third District of Texas
Argued on November 21, 1996
Justice Hecht, Concurring in the judgment.
My most serious reservation about the Court's opinion is its conclusion that evidence of pending and future claims and unpaid punitive damage awards should never be admissible. Comment e to Section 908 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts reaches the opposite conclusion
Another factor that may affect the amount of punitive damages is the existence of multiple claims by numerous persons affected by the wrongdoer's conduct. It seems appropriate to take into consideration both the punitive damages that have been awarded in prior suits and those that may be granted in the future, with greater weight being given to the prior awards.
My initial concern is that the Court's rejection of comment e is entirely gratuitous. The evidence of future punitive damages awards offered in these cases is not such that the judgments would be affected under the Court's opinion. Rather than rejecting comment e out of hand, the Court could just as easily argue that even if comment e were followed, the result in these cases would be no different. The Court must go out of its way to disavow comment e's application, not only in the present cases where it makes no difference, but in any cases, ever. In these the first cases in which the subject has been raised, I find it hard to understand how a categorical rejection of a rule the respected Restatement has endorsed for almost two decades can be justified.
The Court gives two reasons for rejecting the Restatement position. One is that "many punitive damage awards are reduced after trial, reversed on appeal, or settled at a discount." That is true, of course, but the same can be said for any litigated liability. The mere fact that future liabilities are uncertain does not excuse their being reported and estimated routinely in financial statements. Something is wrong with the argument that juries who must determine past and future mental
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