Style of Case and Citation:
Young v. Becker & Poliakoff
88 So.3d 1002 (2012)
Court Rendering Final Decision:
Supreme Court of the United States ??????
Identification of Parties and Procedural Details: Who is the Plaintiff/Appellant? Who is the Defendant/Appealer? What is the cause of action? Who prevailed in lower court? Who is appealing to what court?
Jacquelyn Young hired the law firm of Becker & Poliakoff to represent her in her federal employment discrimination lawsuit against her employer. The firm associate that filed the action made a mistake by attaching the wrong U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) right-to-sue letter. The court dismissed the claims. The law firm did not …show more content…
Both parties appealed
Statement and Discussion of the Legal Issues in Dispute: What decision of the lower court is being challenged? What specific legal questions is the subject court being asked to address? Is the question about Common-Law? A Statute?
The court finds that the maximum award that will not be excessive is $2 million which constitutes about 18%–20% of the firm’s net worth.
Court rejected Becker & Poliakoff’s argument that the punitive damages award should have been set aside or remitted further. In connection with this argument, Becker & Poliakoff argues that the only “loss” cognizable in this case would have been loss of wages and that mental anguish damages were precluded by the impact rule. Assuming, without deciding, that the damages for mental anguish were not properly awardable as compensatory damages in this case, it is clear that the jury awarded at least some compensatory damages for breach of fiduciary duty. Thus, we need not consider whether punitive damages could have been awarded in this case in the absence of actual damages.
Subject Court Final Decision: For Plaintiff? For Defendant? What happens next?
Affirm the final judgment.
Summary of This Final Court’s Reasoning: What is the legal basis for the court’s decision? Be sure to include relevant Dissenting Opinions. ????
First, we have long