Critiques of “nuclear” jury verdicts whitewash corporate misconduct and dehumanize victims

Corporate lobby groups issue “reports” criticizing juries when their large corporate backers lose cases. One of their recent “reports” is on what they call “nuclear verdicts.” These reports criticize juries and whitewash egregious corporate wrongdoing which led to these verdicts. They go so far as to try to dehumanize the experiences of those who have been seriously injured by their wrongdoing as well as mock the actual jurors who made their decisions based on evidence presented by both sides of a case.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) puts out these bogus “reports” and make many colorful allegations about “nuclear verdicts” while throwing around statistics but providing no back-up data that can be fact-checked.

They intentionally leave the false impression that an undeserving person received a windfall of money, an “innocent” corporation was financially ruined, or the system failed.

In reality, the term “nuclear verdict” is yet another public relations label that the insurance industry began using in 2019 to justify its insurance premium hikes and to simultaneously advance their goals to restrict citizens’ legal rights.

When juries award large damages, it is because they hear evidence of atrocious corporate misconduct or vast human injury and carnage.   

The insurance industry and corporate phrase ”nuclear verdict” should be labeled for what it is – an excuse for insurance companies and corporations to charge more and line their pockets with yet more billions of dollars. 

PDF Fact Sheet: Critiques of “nuclear” jury verdicts whitewash corporate misconduct and dehumanize victims