I don’t know. I’m relying on what others have read in the documents. I know nothing of the particulars of procedure in that jurisdiction.
My point is that I, and others, have all along assumed that the award of this magnitude must be punitive. So when someone tells me that there was no punitive claim (and I have no reason to disbelieve them), I was honestly surprised.
Don’t get me wrong - I was perfectly willing to argue that punitive damages of this magnitude and under these circumstances would be a bad idea, too. In fact, I did.
However, it’s a different - and even more obviously compelling, I would have thought - argument if the jury imposed such a harsh award ostensibly as “compensatory” damages. Though see CoolHandCox’s point above, that a jury member claims they imposed the massive award to “send a message”.
You may well be right. So far, I’ve not seen any actual breakdown of what was actually awarded for what. Only that the amount claimed was all compensatory.
Its hard to imagine that compensatory damages could possibly be 55 million dollars for something like this but at least its not punitive damages (which would have made very little sense).
I don’t know how you can appeal a jury finding of actual damages unless there is a problem with the jury instructions. This is why damages should not be determined by juries.
I wanted to watch the video because I wanted to see what $55 million dollars worth of video looked like.
There is plenty of video out there that is taken without consent (at least when the video is taken), I guess some people are into it (there’s freaks for every kink out there) but after viewing the video, you can’t tell its her.
If I showed you the video along with other equally blurry videos of white women with blonde hair blow drying their hair, I doubt you could pick out the one of Erin Andrews.
That’s not to say she suffered no harm but 55 million?
You don’t think the 2 and a half year jail sentence was enough? Its already illegal to take videos like that. Are you under the impression that the hotel was complicit in taking the video and did it as a funny joke or something?
So she didn’t suffer on dancing with the stars or on her gig as a sports reporter but in private (and in the witness stand), she suffered unbearable pain and suffering. Yeah, maybe, I guess.
I’m not criticizing HER for suing. I’m criticizing the judicial hellhole that allows this sort of a verdict in the first place.
What’s the apportionment (compensatory/punitive)? Few plaintiffs in Vioxx/Celebrex litigation, for example, received more than 20 million dollars, many of them far less, for wrongful death judgments. Comparably, 55 million dollars for Andrews’ injuries seems unbalanced.
On the day this was announced, I was meeting with some senior execs from a competing hotel operation. Over dinner, we discussed. Their response?
They ordered a security audit of every property to check on the phone systems.
They ordered every property to do a refresh of security protocols at the front desk.
They are sending out secret shoppers to test the security at every property.
They are seeing an uptick in reservations as people cancel Marriott stays and shift to their brand.
Funny - the $55 million was not the key topic. Our conversation on that part revolved around how long the appeals cycle would be, what the real amount would be once negotiated, and whether that would be a sealed agreement or not (as in - would we ever know)>
The women at the table discussed the mental pain of knowing that every person you would ever meet has seen you naked, and how horrible that would be.
The men at the table discussed how angry they would be if someone was next to them with bad intentions. I work in a very competitive industry, and we end up in the same hotels for conferences. I sometimes see people who I have fired, who have been hired by another firm in my space. I don’t want them finding their way to my room.
Finally - I travel constantly, and have not had a room number read to me in years. In fact - I usually get my keys in a little folder that is closed with the number written inside of it and not even on the cover. The hotel failed in basic security (the house phone), and is now paying for being lax (I think the expensive suits call that negligence).
It’s a good question, to which there is as yet no answer. Apparently, all that was asked for was compensatory. Which, as has been argued, is massively unbalanced.
I don’t think this will help or hurt her career. We’ve all stayed in hotel rooms, we’re all naked beneath our clothes. She did nothing to make this happen other than take her clothes off which, last time I checked, we all do every day. (At least I hope so.)
Without getting into victim blaming, this isn’t like she took the video herself and it was hacked off her phone, like Scarlet Johannsen. Or “did stuff” and had the tape stolen like Pam Anderson.
It is possible to feel appropriate sympathy for Ms. Andrews and to believe the judgement excessive at the same time.
Thanks. I guess I could buy a punitive award of that size, provided the award did not go to the clmt. But $55 mill for this offense is (IMO) outrageous.
…Iran has just been ordered to pay 10.5 Billion dollars to the US because Judge Daniels found that Iran failed to defend itself against claims that it played a role in 9/11. This same Judge, by the way, ruled that Saudi Arabia had sovereign immunity.
If you want to get outraged over something then get outraged over a country being ordered to pay 10.5 Billion dollars for a crime it had absolutely nothing to do with. But we all know and have discussed how 55 million won’t be the final figure here. There really isn’t anything to be outraged about.
Or here’s a really crazy idea: check in with the other guest on whether they even KNOW the person requesting to be put next to them, or if there’s a stalker/angry ex problem.
Yeah, I know, giving ANY thought to protecting someone’s privacy and safety is crazy-talk, especially if that person is female and traveling alone, thus more vulnerable.