Gold V. National Savings Bank

This diversity case arises out of the alleged breach of a permanent financing agreement by the defendant bank. In answering a special interrogatory, the jury below found that the bank acted fraudulently in refusing to make a permanent loan to the plaintiffs. The jury awarded the plaintiffs $150,000 compensatory and $50,000 punitive damages. The district court, however, granted a judgment n.o.v. regarding the punitive damages and ordered remittitur of $50,000 of the compensatory damages. Both parties appealed. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm the district court's judgment n.o.v. with respect to the punitive damages and reverse the district court's decision not to grant judgment n.o.v. with respect to the compensatory damages.