Hall v. Montgomery Ward & Co.

Thomas Hall (plaintiff), a janitor with a mental disability, stole property from his employer, Montgomery Ward (defendant), and under the company's threats agreed to repay far more than the goods were worth; Hall later said his mental retardation left him unable to fully understand the threats. Hall sued the company for the mental anguish those threats caused him, introducing evidence at trial contrasting his own poverty with the company's substantial financial resources, and the jury returned a verdict in his favor. The trial judge granted the company a new trial on the theory that the financial-resources evidence had been inadmissible.