The respondent, an assistant manager at Wal-Mart, was constructively dismissed after enduring months of abusive and demeaning treatment from her supervisor.
When she complained to Wal-Mart management, they deemed her complaints unsubstantiated and threatened her with reprisal.
At trial, a jury awarded substantial compensatory, aggravated, and punitive damages against both the supervisor and Wal-Mart.
On appeal, the Court of Appeal upheld the findings of liability and the compensatory and aggravated damages awards, finding that the supervisor intentionally inflicted mental suffering and Wal-Mart breached its duty of good faith and fair dealing.
However, the Court significantly reduced the punitive damages awards against both defendants, concluding that the original amounts were not rationally required to achieve the goals of punishment, denunciation, and deterrence in light of the high compensatory awards.
