Also known as: general damages
Written by attorneys — see sources below.
Compensatory damages awarded for harm to reputation presumed to flow from a defamatory statement. The jury may estimate the amount without proof of actual pecuniary loss or other specific injury.
Danielle Dixon published a false statement accusing Deanna Davenport of embezzling funds from a charity. Deanna sues for libel per se. The jury awards $75,000 in damages at large after finding the statement harmed her reputation even though Deanna offered no evidence of lost donations or other out-of-pocket loss.
Devon Drake tells a group of suppliers that Diane Dawson's construction firm uses substandard materials. Diane proves the statement was false and actionable per se. The jury awards damages at large for presumed reputational injury without requiring Diane to prove any specific lost contracts.
A magazine prints a false story claiming Daphne Doyle, a local politician, accepted bribes. Daphne proves actual malice. The jury may award damages at large for presumed reputational harm in addition to any proven special damages.
In 1968, Chicago police officer Richard Nuccio shot and killed a youth named Nelson. State authorities prosecuted Nuccio and obtained a conviction for second-degree murder. The Nelson family retained petitioner Elmer Gertz, a Chicago attorney, to represent them in civil litigation against Nuccio. Respondent Robert Welch, Inc., publishes American Opinion, a monthly magazine expressing the views of the John Birch Society. In March 1969, the magazine published an article titled "FRAME-UP: Richard Nuccio And The War On Police." The article accused Gertz of participating in a Communist conspiracy to discredit local law enforcement, described him as a "Leninist" and "Communist-fronter," and claimed he had been an officer of the National Lawyers Guild, which it portrayed as a Communist organization involved in planning attacks on Chicago police during the 1968 Democratic Convention. The article contained numerous inaccuracies, including the false implication that Gertz had a criminal record. Gertz had served as an officer of the National Lawyers Guild approximately fifteen years earlier but had no involvement in planning the 1968 demonstrations. He had never been a member of the Marxist League for Industrial Democracy or the Intercollegiate Socialist Society. The managing editor of American Opinion made no effort to verify the charges against Gertz before publication and appended an editorial introduction stating that the author had conducted extensive research. Gertz filed a diversity action for libel in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The district court ruled that the statements constituted libel per se under Illinois law. After a trial, the jury awarded Gertz $50,000 in compensatory damages. The district court later entered judgment for the defendant notwithstanding the verdict, applying the New York Times standard. The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed. The Supreme Court granted certiorari to review the application of constitutional standards to defamation of a private individual.
View caseA reporter publishes details of Daniel Diaz's private medical condition obtained through deception. Daniel proves the publication was defamatory. The court permits recovery of damages at large for the presumed harm to his reputation without evidence of economic loss.
Dietemann, a disabled veteran with little education, was engaged in the practice of healing with clay, minerals, and herbs—as practiced, simple quackery. Defendant Time, Incorporated, publishes Life Magazine, and its November 1, 1963 edition carried an article entitled “Crackdown on Quackery” depicting plaintiff as a quack and including two pictures of him. Life Magazine entered into an arrangement with the District Attorney’s Office of Los Angeles County whereby Life’s employees would visit plaintiff and obtain facts and pictures concerning his activities. On September 20, 1963, Life employees Mrs. Jackie Metcalf and Mr. William Ray went to plaintiff’s home using a ruse to gain entrance by claiming they had been sent by a friend, a Mr. Johnson, and once admitted they went into plaintiff’s den where Ray photographed plaintiff with a hidden camera without consent while transmitting the conversation via a hidden radio transmitter in Metcalf’s purse to a tape recorder in a parked automobile. Prior to September 20, 1963, on two occasions the officials had obtained recordings of conversations in plaintiff’s home without Life employees participating, and on October 15, 1963, plaintiff was arrested at his home on a charge of practicing medicine without a license during which Life made many pictures. The district court awarded plaintiff $1000 general damages after a court trial in an action for invasion of privacy with jurisdiction grounded in diversity and the parties agreeing that California law governed, from which Time appealed.
View caseDominion Capital falsely accuses a competitor of fraud in an internal memo later leaked to clients. The competitor proves actual malice. The jury awards both compensatory damages at large for reputational harm and a separate punitive amount.
In 1981, Curtis Campbell was driving with his wife Inez in Cache County, Utah, when he attempted to pass six vans on a two-lane highway. This caused an oncoming driver, Todd Ospital, to swerve onto the shoulder, lose control, and collide with a vehicle driven by Robert G. Slawson and his wife, killing Ospital and permanently disabling Slawson. Campbell's insurer, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, declined settlement offers of the $50,000 policy limit from Slawson and Ospital's estate despite early investigations indicating Campbell's fault and advice from its own adjuster. A jury in the underlying tort actions found Campbell 100 percent at fault and returned a judgment of $185,849 against him. State Farm refused to pay the $135,849 excess over policy limits or post a supersedeas bond. The Campbells then entered an agreement with Slawson and Ospital's estate under which the claimants would not seek satisfaction of the judgment in exchange for the Campbells pursuing a bad-faith action against State Farm, being represented by the claimants' attorneys, and assigning 90 percent of any recovery to them. The Campbells sued State Farm for bad faith, fraud, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The trial court bifurcated the case into two phases before separate juries. In phase one the jury found State Farm's refusal to settle unreasonable. In phase two the jury heard evidence that State Farm's decision was part of a nationwide Performance, Planning and Review policy implemented since 1979 to cap payouts and meet corporate profit goals, including testimony from former Utah employees and experts about practices in multiple states over twenty years. The jury awarded $2.6 million in compensatory damages and $145 million in punitive damages. The trial court reduced the compensatory award to $1 million and the punitive award to $25 million. Both sides appealed. The Utah Supreme Court reinstated the $145 million punitive damages award after applying the three guideposts from BMW of North America, Inc. v. Gore and relying on the nationwide evidence, State Farm's wealth, and the statistical likelihood of punishment in only one of 50,000 cases. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.
View caseDuffy Construction's CEO falsely tells a trade group that Decker Electronics' products are unsafe. Decker sues in California. The court applies damages at large for the presumed reputational injury while also considering choice-of-law rules for the amount.
Offshore Rental Company is a California corporation with its principal place of business in California. It derives its revenues in large part from leasing oil drilling equipment in Louisiana's Gulf Coast area. Continental Oil Company is a Delaware corporation headquartered in New York. It does business in California, Louisiana, and other states. In November 1967, Offshore opened an office in Houston, Texas, to establish a base closer to the Gulf Coast. In June 1968, Offshore's vice-president Howard C. Kaylor traveled from that office to Louisiana to confer with Continental's representatives. During that trip, Continental negligently injured Kaylor on its premises in Louisiana. At the time, Kaylor was responsible for obtaining contracts for Offshore's increased business in Louisiana. Continental compensated Kaylor for his injuries. Offshore then filed suit in California seeking $5 million in damages for the loss of Kaylor's services. In a bifurcated trial on choice of law, the trial court found that all significant contacts were in Louisiana except for Offshore's California residency. The court determined that Louisiana law governed whether a corporation could maintain an action for damages from personal injuries to its employee. Finding that Louisiana law barred the action, the court entered judgment for Continental. Offshore appealed from the judgment.
View caseDamages at large are available for libel and slander per se because harm to reputation is presumed. The jury may estimate the amount without evidence of actual pecuniary loss.
Supporting sources
Gertz limited presumed damages at large to cases involving actual malice or matters not of public concern. Absent actual malice, a plaintiff must prove actual injury to recover compensatory damages.
Supporting sources
Damages at large compensate for presumed reputational harm. Separate recovery for emotional distress may be available under Restatement § 905 when supported by evidence.
Supporting sources