The Des Moines Register ran a great editorial on May
18, 2013 that looked at jury verdict caps in light of the Henry’s Turkey
Service case. In the editorial, the Register noted that the Congressionally mandated statutory caps in federal EEOC cases reduced the compensatory and
punitive damages awarded to each plaintiff in the case from $7.5 million to
$50,000. Given the evidence presented at the trial, this reduction was unjust. The
Register makes a great point that these verdict caps undercut the inherent
wisdom of juries and undermines the crucial deterrent effect that punitive
damages create. If the Iowa state
legislature again wants to consider verdict caps in medical malpractice cases they need only look to the Henry’s Turkey Service case to see the
injustice created by this “one size fits all” approach to our civil justice
system.
