Marine on deployment to Iraq awarded $3.5 million punitive damages in dispute with USAA

I don't know that much about this case -- I only learned of it yesterday when the reporter called me -- but it has something to do with a pipe bursting under the slab of the house, I believe. In any event, the punitive damage award was a whopping $3.5 million. That's huge, considering the underlying breach of contract and emotional damages were only $84,000 and $50,000, and will likely be reduced somewhere along the way as exceeding the constitutional boundaries for punitive damages. Here's a blog post I saw on the story, where the commentary appears to be limited to which category the item was placed in.It's funny, every time I talk with a reporter, I wish I still was one, but that's about the only time that happens.