Del. Court Says Jurors Can Consider Punitive Damages Against Successor Firm

WILMINGTON, Del. — The family of a worker killed in a 2008 silo accident can pursue punitive damages against a successor to the alleged grain bin operator under an established policy of deterrence, a Delaware Superior Court judge has ruled.

The ruling on punitive damages was one of several rulings made by Superior Court Judge Jerome O. Herlihy March 1 in a case brought by the family of Herbert Mitchell against Allen Family Foods Inc. and related or successor companies.

On Dec. 12, the judge already granted summary judgment as to Allen Hatchery Inc., the employer defendant, under the …