An award of punitive damages two and a half times the amount of compensatory damages was not excessive where a securities company published false information about a former employee on his termination statement, a New York Southern District Judge ruled Feb. 16.
Judge Deborah A. Batts also found that an arbitration panel properly disregarded a New York Appellate Division case which ran counter to the “overwhelming” number of cases finding termination statements are shielded by qualified, and not absolute, immunity.
