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I have to comment briefly about a recent Seventh Circuit decision that came down a couple of months ago. In Mathias v. Accor Economy Lodging (7th Cir. 2003) 347 F.3d 672, the plaintiffs stayed at a budget motel owned and operated by the defendants in downtown Chicago. When the plaintiffs awoke the next morning they learned that bedbugs had been feasting on them as they slept. The aggrieved plaintiffs filed suit and as the case wound its way toward trial, plaintiffs uncovered some interesting facts, such as 1) bedbugs were originally discovered on the premises two years before the attack on plaintiffs; 2) an exterminator had suggested fumigating every room(for $500) but the defendants refused and last, but certainly not least, 3) the defendants continued to rent rooms to guests, including those rooms that had been classified as "DO NOT RENT UNTIL TREATED". And as luck would have it, the plaintiffs were given a room which had not been treated. The plaintiffs chose to sue in Chicago and included a claim for wilful and wanton conduct, which would allow punitive damages. The case went to trial and the jury awarded $5000 in compensatory damages...and $186,000 in punitive damages. The defendant appealed, on the grounds that the punitive damages were excessive.

The appellate opinion was drafted by Judge Richard Posner of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. At first blush, the defense was probably thrilled because Judge Posner is a leading conservative jurist. But not so fast. Posner rejected the defendant's arguments about the punitive award and allowed it to stand. In his opinion he also commented on how stubborn and aggressive the defendant had been in litigating the matter which ordinarily dissuades most contingent fee lawyers from taking these cases. And it appears that the trial court allowed evidence of the defendant's net worth($1.6 billion) which probably didn't help the defendant much in the jury room. I have to believe that the plaintiffs in this case would have taken considerably less than $186,000 to settle the case. Nice to see a deserving defendant get his comeuppance now and again. Next time, pay the $500.