Allapattah Services, Inc. v. Exxon Corporation
United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
61 F. Supp. 2d 1326 (1999)
Relevant factsFree
Allapattah and other dealers (plaintiffs) sued Exxon (defendant) in a class action for breach of their sales agreement, then moved shortly before trial to add a punitive-damages claim based on Exxon's alleged bad-faith breach; Exxon opposed on the ground that punitive damages don't apply to purely contractual claims and that varying state law on the issue would complicate the diversity class action.
IssueFree
Whether punitive damages are available in a case arising under contract law alone.