The Fifth Circuit, recognizing an open question in that Circuit’s jurisprudence, recently elected to follow the Sixth Circuit’s application of the Title VII compensatory and punitive damages cap from Hudson v. Reno, 130 F.3d 1193 (6th Cir. 1997). In Hudson, a unanimous panel of the Sixth Circuit held that the damage cap in Title VII applies “to each party in an action, not to each claim, and there is nothing in the language of the statute to indicate otherwise.” The Sixth Circuit was the first circuit to squarely address that question, although it recognized that its decision was in accord with the weight of district court authority. The Fifth Circuit’s decision in Black v. Pan American Laboratories, LLC illustrates the significance of the damage cap as the court reduced a jury award of $600,000 in compensatory damages and $2.4 million in punitive damages to a total of $200,000. Noting that several other circuits have subsequently joined the Sixth, the Fifth Circuit cited and quoted the rule from Hudson as it affirmed the district court’s result on the damage cap. In a dissenting and concurring opinion, Judge Dennis concurred that the cap was properly applied in the case, but did so predominantly based on preclusion principles. Judge Dennis wrote separately in part to emphasize that the “per claim” aspect of the damage cap should be limited by normal principles of claim preclusion.
