Aggregation of per-violation statutory damages across large classes produces totals unrelated to actual injury. Defendants raise due process challenges and superiority arguments against certification.
Courts have reduced awards on due process grounds.
Alternative Names:
Aggregated Statutory Damages|Aggregate Statutory Exposure
Why it Matters?
Due process challenges to aggregate awards have succeeded where the total was wholly disproportionate to any harm, drawing on the principle that statutory damages may not be so severe as to be obviously unreasonable. Raising the argument at certification through superiority rather than only post-verdict is more effective, since courts may decline certification where the aggregate would be annihilating. Documenting the disproportion quantitatively supports both.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
When have due process challenges succeeded?
When should the argument be raised?
