> Three million wasn't reasonable unless one employee held the woman down > while another deliberately scalded her with boiling coffee. > PHB
The way it has been explained to me that finally convinced me it was reasonable was this: It would not be a reasonable compensation for the damages suffered by the woman, but that's not what it was. It was a punitive award to be paid by McDonald's, and anything less would not have been felt. If it had been a punitive judgment against some Mom and Pop diner, a reasonable award might have been three thousand. A three million dollar judgment against the Mom and Pop would not be reasonable unless circumstances such as those you describe above had applied, in which case it might have been three billion against McDonald's. See the distinction?
