The U.S. Supreme Court released its opinion on whether Exxon should pay $2.5 billion in punitive damages arising out of the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster. In a decision that comes as no surprise to anyone…except maybe those who expected that the court would throw out punitive damages in their entirety…the court reduced the punitive damages from $2.5 billion to roughly $504 million, which is about $46 dollars for every gallon of oil they spilled in Prince William Sound.
Several observations:
- Champagne corks are flying at the Exxon boardroom in Dallas. You can hear the popping sounds all the way over here in Fort Worth.
- Exxon is the most profitable corporation in the history of ever. It set an annual profit record by earning $40.61 billion last year – or nearly $1,300 per second in 2007. That eclipsed its previous record of $39.5 billion in 2006.
- Justice Samuel Alito did not participate in the decision because he owns Exxon stock. As if…
