An amicus brief filed on April 22 by CCL Senior Counsel Jeffrey White argues against reviewing punitive damage awards for gross negligence differently from awards based on willful or wanton misconduct. Aleo v. Toys R Us involves a fatal head injury to a young mother sliding down an inflatable swimming pool slide sold by Toys R Us.  A Massachusetts jury found the company grossly negligent in failing to ensure compliance with CPSC standards for such slides, awarding $2,640,000 in compensatory and $18 million in punitive damages.  Toys R Us argued on appeal that, because gross negligence is the least reprehensible type of misconduct for which punitives might be awarded, any amount in excess of a 1-to-1 ratio to compensatory damages is unconstitutionally excessive. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court invited amicus participation on the question whether gross negligence awards should be reviewed under a different standard.

CCL filed a brief on behalf of AAJ and the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys, arguing against a bright-line limit on punitive damages of any category. Instead, allowing a well-instructed jury to assess reprehensibility based on the facts of the particular case carries out the state interest in punishing and deterring misconduct in a manner that is fundamentally fair to defendants.