Unfortunately, given the Supreme Court's recent decisions regarding punitive damages, this amount is going to be reversed.

I've probably seen no less than 10 U-Hauls broken down by the side of the road in the last 10 years. One had a discouraging amount of white smoke billowing out of the engine...I hope the driver's stuff didn't burn in the ensuing engine fire.

That kind of advertising speaks for itself, U-Haul

I'm sure it will be reduced. But I wish it would stick and bankrupt them. This is inexcusable negligence. We really need to bring back a "corporate death penalty" in this country.

"The final verdict is another example of abuse of the legal system against corporate citizens in America."

Blah blah reduced on a appeal, whatever, U-haul still deserved to lose and lose BIG. You don't get to cry about abuse against corporate citizens unless you're a good corporate citizen.

Well U Haul is right to lose, but it does seem excessive. We live in a weird society where we punish those corporations that have led America to thrive. Compare these two cases.

Man gets imprisoned in Erie County, NY for 14 years, gets $3.2 million.

Man gets severely injured, and he gets over 25x that amount. Probably because U Haul is a big corporation and a Liberal judge probably felt the need to take them down a peg.

Instead lets make the government do their jobs, abandon the useless war and drugs, stop welfare completely, adopt a loser pays court system, and actually have a government that works for the tax payers, not the social leaches. This isn't supposed to be a welfare state.

What I meant by the government doing their job was that they should have inspected the trucks, and not give the money that they could have spend making society safe on welfare payments.

In other news...

Kimberly-Clark must pay $22 million to man for leaky Depends and embarrassing public transit incident.

I like to analyze the impact of big verdicts on companies. I'm not a lawyer or anything, I just do it for fun. I'm weird.

I'm a little concerned about this sticking. Not that shareholders are determining the impact of this litigation, but day traders are usually a pretty good litmus test and to see prices within one session rise in U-Haul's parent (Amerco, [finance.google.com]) after this kind of verdict usually means that either (A) their shareholders had already priced in a bigger verdict and this is actually a relief to them (unlikely) or (B) they see this award as being so outrageous that it effectively won't happen.

I wanna see them get dinged just as bad as everyone else. I just hope that their marketmakers are wrong here.

Some of you say that this $84 million settlement goes too far, well I say this $84 million settlement doesn't go too far enough!

@TheManator: Cookie for who gets that reference, btw

@TheManator: are you invoking Jack Johnson, or his bitter rival, John Jackson?

Cooperations are not people, therefore not citizens..

If they were citizens they could be tossed in jail or executed. Uhaul should be thankful they are not a citizen.

sorry, but U-haul deserves this. They are NOTORIOUSLY known for having vehicles/trailers that have not been maintained propery & even dangerous.

This was an issue years & years ago.

IMO a company either needs to get punished to FIX the problem (their poorly maintained & dangerous trucks/trailers) or be driven out of business completely because they REFUSE to fix said problem.

@EricaKane:

Right, under BMW v. Gore.

That being said, if this counts as reckless disregard for health and safety, the amount may stick. And in this case, it just might.

It'd be nice to tack on mandatory extra inspections and huge fines for continued negligence.

I think the amount is a bit excessive, but yikes! this guy definitely deserves at least a couple million.

So where's the "it's the stupid old dudes fault" crowd???
Just like it was the old lady at McDonalds fault...

Hope this sticks. And usually the awards are set by the jury, not the judge (for those spouting about liberal judges...)

@EricaKane:

No reason that decision should affect this case. Philip Morris vs. Williams said that jurors should not base their damage award amounts on the potential harm to OTHERS not part of the suit, but just on the damages to the plaintiff. Nothing in this case indicates the jury based their award on harm to other people, just on the harm done to the plaintiff.

What I don't like is that the local branch is way more responsible. Although, I am not against going after the national company, since they probably have done nothing to local stores to get them to fix trucks. But the jack asses that rented out that truck to him should be sued for a million bucks and they should lose everything they own.

@stinerman:

No, that was back in 1996, so I don't think Erica meant that by "recent decision." Besides, all that said was that a $2 mil punitive damage award was excessive for a badly retouched paint job on a new car, so exceswsive as to violate the constitutional "due process" clause. IOW, the punitive award has to be reasonably proportionate to the actual harm suffered. A bad paintjob was not worth punishing them to the tune of $2 mil. Paraplegia, OTOH, is another story, and even an award of this size is still reasonably proportionate.

@jefffromNY: How the hell is it the government's job to inspect U-haul's trucks for them? It's negligence, pure and simple. And the reason you allow awards like this is as a deterrent. Make shareholders liable to lose every dime of their investment due to crap like this, and you can bet that companies like U-haul will stop being so negligent. Of course it's excessive as a punishment for one person...the point is to make them fear the courts and to make them an example to other companies.

How does giving 'punitive damages' to the victim and their lawyers make any sense? I don't claim great knowledge on the subject, but this just seems like a conflict of interest.

@mastercha: Could go either way, they're just so...different.

This guy's kids' kids' kids' kids' kids'...kids' got way lucky they're great...great grandpa got run over by U-Haul. While I like to see companies like this actually have to do something about not following their own rules, this amount seems incredibly excessive. Maybe give the guy a couple million and give the rest to everyone who's ever rented from U-Haul. Or something.

Several years ago my husband and I rented a U-Haul during a move from Austin to Houston. My husband drove the U-Haul and I followed in our car. 20 or 30 miles outside of Houston, my husband got off the highway and pulled into a shopping center, parking way out in the empty area. When I asked him what was happening, he said the brakes were failing. He wasn't even sure he'd be able to stop safely when he got off the highway. We called U-Haul and they sent out a mechanic who said there was a leak in the brake line. He refilled the truck then was nice enough to follow us nearly all the way to our new house to make sure the truck was ok. When we returned the truck to u-Haul the next day, the rental fee was waived. I didn't know this wasn't an uncommon issue with U-Haul. Thankfully no one was hurt in our case.

This guy just won the $84 million dollar lottery, except he didn't because he now has a crushed pelvis and urinary problems because of U-Haul's truck. Even though the number is outrageous, they shouldn't reverse it to make a point.

The market cap of U-haul's parent company is $1.17 billion, so this IS a pretty heavy chunk of change for the company, especially given that their earnings per year is around $40 million. In reality, this will probably settle for about 1/3 to 1/5 of the jury award--say $20 million. The company won't want to get the bad publicity and the plaintiff (and plaintiff's lawyers) will want to get their money. The company will take a one-time charge against earnings, and life will move on.

@The Dude: Punitive damages are a way for the courts to function as a check on those who would otherwise ignore the damages and write them off as a cost of doing business. It's a way to regulate without the regulators.

@The Dude:

The conflict of interest would be if they allowed the court, which decides the case and the award amount, to keep the money. Think about it. So if not the courts, or by extension the government, or the plaintiff, then who gets the money?? HMMMM?

@jefffromNY: Part of the reason that juries award these amounts is because they feel ripped off in every other aspect of their lives and this is their only way of leveling the playing field. Why doesn't this happen in other industrialized countries? 1) Because they have a loser pays system (which I support); 2) Because most other judges would throw out the stupid cases; and 3) Because the people get a certain level of respect. Meaning, they get a reasonable wage, health care, education, etc. So, they don't feel ripped off. The argument that its our "entitlement society" is BS. Other countries are much more socialized and they don't have this problem. Sorry, my opinion is that Obama is right- we're bitter and its these little things where we try to even things up.

I'm not surprised that the truck was a complete piece of crap. Whenever I rent from U-Haul their trucks seem to be about on their last leg. The way it works at the U-Haul is that long distance moves get the newer trucks, and the older trucks are relegated to around-town duty. I would not be surprised if that truck was 20 years old or older.

I think that if companies want to appeal jury decisions, they should be forced to put up the original amount, or at least 1/2, in a special fund that they can't touch or earn interest on or anything.

Even if the punitive damages stick, U-Haul will still rent this piece of crap truck out in the same condition for another 20 years. This company has now concern whatsoever that the trucks are a danger to others, even when you tell them that when you return it. The last truck I had wasn't serviced in many years, the dash lights didn't work, and the parking brake didn't work either. I was lucky it was only a short trip with no hills.

@mastercha: Good show. And a good show too. Anyways, seriously, I don't see anything wrong with this settlement, of course, I am saying that because I want this much money, but who doesn't.

@loki7154: You're right thet the damages are significant for a $1 billion corp, but remember that this is why they buy business insurance

The medical expenses to cover a disability like this can be insanely high and last for the person's life time. Not just medical expenses, but adaptions as well -- like the cost to modify a van so it can be driven by a quadriplegic can run up to almost $100,000. So who should pay for it? The public through increased taxes (if medicaid) or insurance rates?

How much would you be willing to take to exchange your ability to walk and not shit yourself if it was a voluntary decision between the two?

@weave: We're I 74 years old, $25-30 million, which includes a premium for losing my ability to walk and not soil myself via being half crushed by a U-Haul truck.

And that's exclusive of my compensatory damages. But my damn kids better be thankful and change a few diapers before I kick off.

Re jefffromNY:
1) lets make the government do their jobs, 2) abandon the useless war and drugs, 3) stop welfare completely, 4) adopt a loser pays court system, and 5) actually have a government that works for the tax payers, not the social leaches

1) This is what politics is, defining what governments job is. I assure you the current administration does not think the governments job is inspecting u-hauls or even ensuring public safety, laissez-faire and all that.
2) 100% agreement
3) As soon as the government ceases corporate welfare (bloated military contracts, for obsolete systems, billions of tax offsets for past years for housing manufacturers that continued building past the market peak, etc..) then we can start talking about ADC and other welfare programs.
4) Loser pays = no litigation by people without means. What if the litigant has no money to pay. How would this stipulation be enforced?
5) Too vague to evaluate

@jefffromNY: "Well U Haul is right to lose, but it does seem excessive. We live in a weird society where we punish those corporations that have led America to thrive."

What a load of baloney. What you're saying is that large corporations should have carte blanche to blow off safety simply because they're large corporations. Dude, this isn't "McDonald's coffee is too hot and the lids are flimsy." A guy got run over by a parked U-Haul because the brakes failed, something that would have been caught on the sort of cursory inspection that should be routine for any company that maintains a fleet of vehicles as part of its business. Pull your head out of your ass, turn off the right-wing talk radio, and pay attention to what's going on around you.

@EricaKane: Right, having it overturned would be such an injustice. After all, nothing says "stick it to the man" like forcing them to pass huge price increases on to their customers.

Poor guy is gonna come out of this without 1/2 of that settlement... lawyers.

On another note, if OUR cars have to be inspected yearly for road worthiness... what system do these trucks work under?? "When they start going bad, we'll THINK about fixin' them....

No guarantees."

@Steaming Pile: You really quoted me selectively. I said that U Haul deserved to lose, but $84 million is way excessive when you compare it with others.
And it is the government's job to keep its citizens safe. Yes, this was negligence, but it seems weird that SIX people could have this problem and some government office wouldn't have pulled the truck off the road.
And to the guy who said he hopes the shareholders lose everything. That's just mean, did you know that most stock in the US is held by the middle class? You just said that you hope that a bunch of people (maybe nearing retirement) lose a whole ton of money. Do you understand how hateful it is to say that you hope that someone never gets to retire so you can get your vengeance on someone else?

Uhaul has had a well known systemic problem of dangerous trucks that they know about and refuse to fix. They continue to rent them out with total disregard to people's safety.

The only recourse we have is the courts because there is no regulatory agency to control Uhaul. The only "pain" we can give a company is financial, you can't put a company in jail. The monetary award is reasonable compared to decades of endangering people to make an easy buck.

Does anyone find it interesting that Uhaul owns two insurance companies?
[finance.google.com]

I don't see this as excessive at all. It was only a matter of time before a horrendous injury was incurred due to the lack of maintainance on these death machines. Uhaul is lucky this guy or somebody else wasn't killed.

I'm sure Uhaul was NOT ignorant to the problems surrounding this truck and willfully chose to keep this particular truck on the road as long as possible without making necessary repairs all to make a buck. The behavior of this chain was reckless and endangered the lives of customers. I'm glad Uhaul is getting hit where it hurts the most, their wallet. Hopefully this will encourage them to pay more attention to their vehicles.

I do think however that maybe the man could have been awarded something like 40 million and then the rest dispursed to every prior customer of Uhaul.

I hope the appeal is denied and they go out of buisness. I've drove a few U-Hauls in my time and they have all been EXTREMELY unsafe, especially when you drive above 40 MPH. I'm suprised I haven't died in one of them.

uhaul trucks are in pretty sad shape, generally. glad they got this wake up call.

@jefffromNY: The fault with your argument is while imprisoned illegally for those 13 years, the defendant was relatively safe and cared for. This man will spend the rest of his life needing care which is VERY expensive.

I would even venture to say 84 million wont be enough to secure a comfortable life for this guy.

Its not so much punishing the corporations who "make America great" (which these days is a completely apologetic sack of bullshit since few corporations give two hoots about citizens anymore) Its about paying for this guys medical bills, which I would venture to guess are already in the realm of 5-7 million dollars.

If you wanted a realistic verdict, not only should this man be getting that money, but the owners and operators of that store AND their supervisors should be going to jail too. They would elsewhere in the world.

@jefffromNY: Um no its NOT the governments job to keep them safe in this regard. Its quite funny your hear posting about "liberal judges" yet THEN jump on the biggest liberal cause of them all, governments controlling businesses.

Your a true blue Bush republican all right, screw the citizens, then blame it on lack of public oversight (when no public oversight should have been needed in the first place if the company did its job) to protect your buddys while your buddys make millions and kick them back to you.

I am often disgusted by the often-overly litigious attitude of the typical American. However, I am in full agreement with the outcome of this lawsuit. Not only does this man deserve significant compensation, Uhaul also deserves considerable financial penalties. Unfortunately, sometimes money/fines/lawsuits is the only thing corporations pay attention to and not common sense and/or ethics.

I really don't know if the award is excessive or not. It would be interesting to see how much it's going to cost in medical bills to treat a person with a crushed pelvis. And to loose all bowel control for the rest of your life because U-Haul was too cheap to maintain their trucks deserves something in my mind.

@Hossofcourse: U-Haul is self-insured. And even if you do have liability insurance for your company, punitive damages are almost never covered.

$63 million is incredibly high though and seems arbitrary. If we truly want to impose corporate death penalties via product liability (!), why not make it $1 billion?

I almost feel bad for U-Haul. They are really the only people who will rent to almost anyone (only have to be 18, no credit card required, etc. as opposed to many other companies where you have to be 21 or 25, have a credit card, and there may be other requirements) and people abuse the equipment beyond belief. I can't say I'll shed many tears should they disappear, but even people without a lot of means do need to move.