$248 million Hyundai settlement reduced
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POLSON – Lake County District Judge Deborah Kim Christopher ruled last week that families of two teens killed in a 2011 crash near Arlee should not receive all of the $248 million in punitive damages awarded them by a jury earlier this year.
In May a jury determined a defective steering knuckle caused a 2005 Hyundai Tiburon to crash into another vehicle, killing three people. The families of the two teens, Tanner and Trevor Olson of Missoula, were awarded more than $8 million in compensatory damages and $248 million in punitive damages. It was the largest amount of punitive damages ever awarded in a Montana court case, and also in conflict with a state law that caps punitive damages awards at $10 million.
Christopher ruled that the cap was unconstitutional, “at least as applied to this case considering the significant financial wealth of these defendants.”
Christopher instead set damages at 3 percent of the net worth of the two companies found to be at fault, for a total of $27,360,004 assessed to Hyundai Motor America and $45,600,008 assessed to Hyundai Motor Company.
Documents for the case were sent to the Montana Supreme Court on Sept. 26.
