A party should not be permitted to recover treble damages under a state Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act cause of action in addition to recovering punitive damages under a common-law cause of action when the same facts or conduct support both causes of action.
Until the Appellate Division’s recent decision in St. James v. Future Finance, 342 N.J. Super. 310 (App. Div.), certif. denied, 170 N.J. 388 (2001), this issue had never been squarely addressed by a New Jersey court. In reversing the lower court, the Appellate Division offset the punitive award to reflect the trebled damages holding that where a party suffers a single, monetary injury, “the trebling effect plus the punitive award clearly presents the likelihood of some duplication of exemplary or punitive consequences.”
