Capitalism Forever Posted June 26, 2008 Report Share Posted June 26, 2008 WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned the record $2.5 billion in punitive damages that Exxon Mobil Corp had been ordered to pay for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska. The nation's highest court ruled that the punitive damages should be limited to an amount equal to the total relevant compensatory damages of $507.5 million. Of course, Reuters just couldn't help mentioning this: Soaring oil prices have propelled Exxon Mobil to previously unforeseen levels of profitability in recent years, posting earnings of $40.6 billion in 2007. It took the company just under two days to bring in $2.5 billion in revenue during the first quarter of 2007. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maximus Posted June 26, 2008 Report Share Posted June 26, 2008 That second bit is editorialising, and has no place in a hard news story. My High School journalism teacher would have had me remove that, but standards have declined since '74, it seems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softwareNerd Posted June 26, 2008 Report Share Posted June 26, 2008 Nice to see some good news from the SCOTUS. Hopefully, today's D.C. gun-case will be also be a positive. It's one of those times having a majority of GOP voters on the SCOTUS pays a small dividend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonMaci Posted June 27, 2008 Report Share Posted June 27, 2008 I was not happy when I heard the news the other day that they were ordered to pay such a large sum, but now I am happy to read the ruling has been overturned and that they only have to pay damages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qwertz Posted June 27, 2008 Report Share Posted June 27, 2008 Exxon will still have to pay some in punitive damages; just not as much as before. The Court held that, under Federal maritime common law, punitive damages awards aren't allowed to exceed a 1:1 ratio with compensatory damages. The compensatory damages were $507.5M, so the Supreme Court ordered the trial court to enter a punitive damages award not exceeding the 1:1 ratio, nor no more than $507.5M. So Exxon will have to pay $507.5M in compensatory damages, $507.5M in punitive damages, and any interest and court costs assessed by law. It's better than it was, at least. ~Q Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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