The Whittier Daily News reports that a Los Angeles County jury has ordered Clippers guard James Harden to pay $900,000 in punitive damages and  $450,000 in compensatory damages to the owner of a house Harden rented in 2019.

Per the story, the homeowner accused Harden of damaging the house and damaging the homeowner’s relationship with his HOA. The story also says that the jury found Harden liable for “fraud,” but doesn’t explain what acts of fraud were alleged. Harden’s camp says the homeowner was trying to extort money from him.

The story reports that the jury ordered Harden to “share in the payment” of the $450,000 compensatory damages with a management company and its owner. That probably means that that the management company and its owner were co-defendants, and they’ve all been found jointly and severally liable for the compensatory damages award.

The NY Post is reporting that Gawker has filed its post-trial motions seeking a reduction of the $140 million award in favor of Hulk Hogan. 

Gawker has asked the court to (1) reduce the jury’s award of noneconomic damages from $60 million to $100,000, (2) reduce the $55 million economic damages award to $525,000, and (3) reduce the $25 million punitive damages award to $1.25 million.  The net effect would be a total award of $1.875 million.  They may not get everything they are asking for, but they are likely to get at least some relief from the trial court before the case goes up on appeal.

This may be our first ever link to TMZ: Hulk Hogan scores $25 million in punitive damages.  If you can’t bring yourself to visit TMZ.com, try this New York Times link instead: Jury Tacks on $25 Million to Gawker’s Bill in Hulk Hogan Case.

The Hulkster obtained the award against Gawker for its unauthorized release of a sex tape involving the former professional wrestler.  I’m skeptical that this award will survive post-trial and appellate review, but that’s more due to the size of the compensatory damages.  He asked for “only” $100 million and the jury gave him $115 million.  When the jury verdict exceeds the amount of an already outrageous demand, that’s usually a recipe for judicial intervention.

We rarely report on pretrial proceedings in punitive damages cases.  Most cases end up settling, so we don’t usually cover them until they reach a final verdict or decision by the court.  But this story is so odd it’s worth a quick mention.  The Daily Pilot reports that a professor at UC Irvine’s medical school is suing actor Johnny Depp for punitive damages.  The plaintiff claims that Depp’s bodyguards roughed her up in the VIP area of an Iggy & the Stooges concert.  The story says the trial judge permitted plaintiff to proceed with her punitive damages claim, but the story doesn’t explain whether the court made that ruling in connection with a motion to strike, a summary adjudication motion, or some other procedure.  In any event, I found it amusing that Iggy Pop’s fan base has matured to the point that, when a fight breaks out at a show, it involves a medical professor and a celebrity entourage.

PacificPalisadesPatch reports that a Los Angeles jury has ordered former Lakers coach (and longtime Houston Rockets coach) Rudy Tomjanovich and his wife to pay $250,000 in punitive damages and $2.7 million in compensatory damages to the buyer of their Pacific Palisades home.  The plaintiff, Strata Capital founder Steven Bardack, accused Tomjanovich of acting with malice when he sold the house without disclosing water intrusion and mold problems. 

The house was previously owned by Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis, who was recently hit with a punitive damages award himself.  The PacificPalisadesPatch reports that a further stage of trial is set to begin against Francis and other defendants.  

According to this report, a jury in Oklahoma has awarded Garth Brooks $500,000 in compensatory damages and $500,000 in punitive damages, in a lawsuit against a hospital that accepted a donation from Brooks and then reneged on its promise to name a women’s clinic after his late mother.

We haven’t had a post about a celebrity punitive damages award in quite a while.  Assuming that Larry Hagman still qualifies as a “celebrity,” here’s one for you: Bloomberg reports that Hagman just won an arbitration award against Citigroup, including $10 million in punitive damages.  Hagman doesn’t get to keep the punitive award though: it goes to the charities of his choice. The story doesn’t give any details about the conduct that prompted the award, and doesn’t mention whether the arbitration agreement gives Citigroup any rights to appellate review.