A judge in a California case has told the parties to a lawsuit that she intends to reduce a May 19, 2019 $2 billion punitive damage award for RoundUp to $250 million. As it turns out, it’s an interesting case of compensatory vs punitive damages. Also, this is not unusual, and may actually be required by law.
In 1996, the United States Supreme Court ruled in the case of Gore vs BMW of North America that, “… punitive damages must bear a ‘reasonable relationship’ to compensatory damages.” Otherwise, the award will violate the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment.
