On average, plaintiffs received less than 40percentt of what the settlement agreement specified, instead of the roughly 70percenttoto which they were entitled.
On average these remote plaintiffs have far greater opportunities to mitigate losses by doing business elsewhere.
Jurors have sharply punished Merck in each case it has lost, awarding plaintiffs an average of almost $90 million in compensatory and punitive damages, which are supposed to be given only in cases of egregious corporate conduct.
Plaintiffs allege that "in spite of its prior buybacks below $50 per share and in spite of the Company's expanding losses and declining stock price, Citigroup repurchased 12.1 million shares during the first quarter of 2007 at an average price of $53.37". Plaintiffs then claim that at the time the buyback of Citigroup stock was halted, the stock was trading at $46 per share.
In the first wave of settlements, 65 former Miramonte students who filed claims against the district received $30 million, or an average of about $470,000 per plaintiff.
The expenses of plaintiff burden, on average, were nearly the same as the defendants' burden (roughly about $590 vs. $639).
On average, getting it wrong cost plaintiffs at about $43,000; the total could be more because information on legal costs was not available in every case.
But the database reveals that the City of Chicago pays much smaller sums of money to plaintiffs on an average of every other day.
The plaintiffs have received an average of $15,000 each as compensation, and Wednesday's decision means they will receive a similar amount in punitive damages.
As many as 2,000 current and former employees will receive an average of $40,000, and the four plaintiffs will receive up to $300,000 apiece.
