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Baker v. National State Bank6/21/2002
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Because de novo review means that no special deference will be accorded to a trial court's findings of fact and conclusions of law, the trial court's characterization of the evidence in support of the award of punitive damages is of little significance. See Zimmerman v. Direct Fed. Credit Union, 262 F.3d 70, 81 (1st Cir. 2001) (holding that both extent of punitive damage award and sufficiency of evidence on which it was premised required de novo review).
De novo review means that a reviewing court may disagree with the lower court's findings and conclusions. See Goodman v. London Metals Exch., Inc., 86 N.J. 19, 28-29 (1981) (stating that with de novo review, reviewing court may disagree with lower court's findings and rulings). In sum, no deference need be paid to the trial court's application of the BMW test.
We next focus on the three BMW guideposts. In BMW, the Supreme Court held that a punitive damages award may be so excessive as to violate substantive due process. 517 U.S. 585-86, 116 S. Ct. at 1604, 134 L. Ed. 2d at 832-33. There, the Court considered a $2 million punitive damages award for misconduct causing $4000 in compensatory damages, a ratio of 500 to 1. Id. at 567, 116 S. Ct. at 1595, 134 L. Ed. 2d at 820-21. The Court concluded that the punitive damages award transcended "the constitutional limit" and remanded for consideration of three "guideposts" to determine whether the award comported with principles of fairness. Id. at 585-86, 116 S. Ct. at 1604, 134 L. Ed. 2d at 832-33. Those guideposts required a consideration of: (1) the degree of reprehensibility of the conduct that formed the basis of the civil suit; (2) the disparity between the harm or potential harm suffered by the plaintiff and the plaintiff's punitive damages award; and (3) the difference between this remedy and other penalties authorized or imposed in comparable cases of misconduct. Id. at 575, 116 S. Ct. at 1598-99, 134 L. Ed. 2d at 826.
II.
The Bank contends that its conduct was not so reprehensible as to support even the remitted $1.8 million punitive damages award. Plaintiffs argue that the Bank's misconduct was extremely reprehensible, and the original jury award of $4 million was appropriate.
On remand in this case, in its analysis of the first prong of the BMW test, the trial court first quoted verbatim from this court's opinion discussing the Bank's egregious conduct:
"Indeed selecting plaintiffs for termination and subsequently searching for reasons to justify that selection is evil minded, intentional wrongdoing. The evidence supported a finding that this occurred. Ahern testified that Campbell told him 'plaintiffs have to go.' When Ahern reported back to Campbell that Baker's file justified her selection but Hausleiter was questionable, Campbell and Ahern then obtained notes and placed them in Hausleiter's file."
"The evidence further supports the Judge's conclusion that defendant set about to trash the reputations of the plaintiffs. Defendants accused Baker of having bad loans and overdrafts, which was not true. Campbell said that Baker was chosen for termination because of the unsatisfactory performance of her branch, Perth Amboy, but admitted that she was assigned to manager that branch because of her ability and experience, and further admitted that the branch has improved in the time that she managed it."
Appellate Division went on to say the defendants also accused Hausleiter of problems with her loan portfolio was not true, which was not true. Ahern admitted that the notes did not criticize Hausleiter. The notes were not originally in Hausleiter's file, and there was no criticism in her performance
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