Court Says Award Excessive, Remands for Trial on Non-Economic Damages

SAN FRANCISCO -- An appellate court has reversed a jury's award of $14.1 million in future non-economic damages, opining that the jury's assessment of the amount was a result of passion or prejudice and, as a result, a new trial on the issue of those specific damages is warranted. Bakkie v. Union Carbide Corp., No. A116231 & A116462 (Calif. Ct. App., 1st Dist., Div. 2).

In the Nov. 29 decision, the Second Division of the First Court of Appeal in California upheld the rest of the verdict in the mesothelioma case and rejected all of Union Carbide's remaining assignments of …