In May we blogged about a $250 million punitive damages award against drug maker Novartis in an employment discrimination class action. The jury awarded $3.3 million in compensatory damages to 12 plaintiffs, but compensatory damages for the remaining 5,588 plaintiffs remained to be determined. At that rate, the compensatory damages could easily have eclipsed the punitives.

The Washington Post reports that Novartis has settled that case for $152.5 million. So it looks like that case will not be the vehicle for an appellate opinion on the availability of punitive damages in class actions.