A paralyzed worker was awarded a sum for the bad faith actions of a workers’ compensation insurer, however the final amount was significantly less than had been awarded by a jury.

Toby Thornton was in an accident when he was driving a truck for Clayton County Recycling. He suffered serious injuries, including paralysis below the chest, loss of the use of his left hand and limited use of his right hand.

He received workers’ comp benefits and sought intervention of the Iowa Workers’ Comp Commissioner on three occasions to enforce his right to workers’ comp. A deputy commissioner found that he was permanently and totally disabled from the accident, granting him partial commutation of his workers’ comp benefits. In late 2013 he filed a bad faith action against the insurer, American Interstate Insurance Co., arguing that it had unnecessarily delayed paying him the benefits to which he was entitled.

A jury returned a verdict in favor of Thornton for $382,000 in compensatory damages, and $6.75 million in punitive damages. They held that the insurer’s action constituted “willful and wanton disregard” for the rights and safety of Mr. Thornton.

American Interstate Insurance appealed, claiming there was insufficient evidence to support the compensatory damages award and that the punitive award violated the Due Process Clauses of awarding a 1:1 ratio of punitive with compensatory damages.

The Iowa Supreme Court held that they did act in bad faith to delay the payments. Still, they unanimously reduced the compensatory and punitive damages awarded to him. A jury had awarded him $6.75 million. The court determined that he was eligible for $18,000 of attorneys’ fees and $40,000 for mental pain and suffering. They used court precedent as a guide to conclude that $500,000 in punitive damages was the maximum award he could receive based on a one-time event. The court awarded damages of $558,452 total.

Read more here.