The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently wiped out a $3.9 million jury award against Wal-Mart, a civil penalty the trial court judge called “stunning” and “the highest verdict that’s been reached in this court . . . in a case that is not worthy of the highest verdict.”
However, Russell Post, a partner with Houston’s Beck Redden who represents the plaintiffs in the case, said the Fifth Circuit’s Aug. 15 decision zeroing out the damage award against the nation’s largest retailer is unprecedented and could have “serious and unintended consequences” on a variety of Texas state statutes intended to regulate the behavior of businesses inside the Lone Star State. For those reasons, Post said his clients will ask the Fifth Circuit to rehear the case — Doris Forte et al. v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
