Court tosses $1M award in insurance suit, orders new trial

The Clarion-Ledger, 4/8/8

A federal appeals court on Monday threw out a $1 million punitive damage award to a Mississippi couple who sued the nation’s largest insurance company over Hurricane Katrina damage.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans also ordered a new trial for the lawsuit that Norman and Genevieve Broussard filed against State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. after the August 2005 hurricane.

A jury in Gulfport awarded $2.5 million in punitive damages to the Broussards in January 2007.

U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr., later reduced that amount to $1 million.