Bmw of North America, Inc. v. Gore

On Remand from the United States Supreme Court The United States Supreme Court has vacated our earlier judgment in this case and has remanded the cause for our further consideration in accordance with BMW of North America, Inc. v. Gore, 517 U.S. 559, 116 S.Ct. 1589, 134 L.Ed.2d 809 (1996). The facts are set out in their entirety in BMW of North America, Inc. v. Gore, 646 So.2d 619 (Ala. 1994), 1 and we note them here only briefly: Dr. Ira Gore, the purchaser of a BMW automobile, sued BMW of North America, Inc. (""BMW""), alleging, among other things, that BMW and Bayerische Motoren Werke, A.G., the foreign manufacturer of the automobile, had fraudulently failed to disclose to him that the automobile he was purchasing had been repainted after being damaged by acid rain during its shipment from Germany. At trial, BMW admitted that the car had been damaged and that BMW had a nationwide policy not to advise its dealers of predelivery damage to new cars when the cost of repair did not exceed three percent (3%) of the car's suggested retail price. The jury returned a verdict for Gore, awarding him $4,000 in compensatory damages and $4 million in punitive damages. The trial court denied BMW's post-trial motion challenging the punitive damages award as excessive; however, on appeal, this Court determined that the $4 million award was excessive and ordered a reduction to $2 million. 2 The United States Supreme Court granted BMW's petition for certiorari review.