Brandt v. Pompa
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The Supreme Court held that the compensatory-damages caps for noneconomic loss in Ohio Rev. Code 2315.18 were unconstitutionally applied to Plaintiff, who was sexually abused by Defendant when she was a child.
A jury found Defendant guilty of over ninety counts of, among other things, rape and kidnapping. Thirty-four of those counts involved acts against Plaintiff. Plaintiff later filed a tort action against Defendant and asked the trial court for a declaratory judgment holding that section 2315.18 was unconstitutional as applied to her case. The jury awarded Plaintiff, inter alia, $20 million in compensatory damages for the abuse she suffered after the damages caps went in effect. The trial court denied Plaintiff's request for declaratory relief and reduced her $20 million noneconomic damages award to $250,000. The court reversed, holding that section 2315.18 is unconstitutional as applied to Plaintiff to the extent that it failed to include an exception to its compensatory-damages caps for noneconomic loss for plaintiffs who have suffered permanent and severe psychological injuries.
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