On the way into work today I heard on NPR about the Supreme Court taking the case.
I admit I'm biased because I kind of want Exxon to pay for this. It makes me NOT very willing to listen to their "this is maritime law not state's law therefore no punitive damages" argument as well as their "it wasn't our fault he was drunk, no wait, strike that... He wasn't legally drunk at the time, and there's no way we would have known (except for the overwhelming evidence that they did know.)
The plaintiffs said Exxon knew Hazelwood had sought treatment for drinking, but had begun drinking again. "Exxon placed a relapsed alcoholic, who it knew was drinking aboard its ships, in command of an enormous vessel carrying toxic cargo across treacherous and resource-rich waters,"
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages, also known as exemplary damages, are damages that are separate and in excess of the compensatory damages awarded to a plaintiff in a legal suit that arises from the malicious or wanton misconduct of the defendant. Punitive damages are imposed to serve as a punishment for the defendant.
other source
The purpose of punitive damages is to punish a defendant and to deter a defendant and others from committing similar acts in the future.
If I interpret this correctly, this is a "free market" approach to smacking business around when it acts like an ass.
Dude was drunk. Exxon knew for the last three years that he was.
The punitive damages started at 5 billion. Through the appeals they have been chipped down to 2.5 Billion.
I'm not even sure 2.5 billion is a punishment, to a company which posted Record Profits to the tune of 40.6 billion dollars.
AP HOUSTON February 1, 2008, 08:19 am ET · Exxon Mobil Corp. on Friday posted the largest annual profit by a US company — $40.6 billion —
link
This isn't going to make anyone rich. The 3.5 billion dollar settlement turns into 75,000 per person.
http://www.npr.com/...
(NPR isn't letting me into the story currently on the website)