International Journal of Business, Management and Commerce (IJBMC)

Compensatory damages, also called special damages, are designed to compensate a plaintiff for personal injury, property damage, or economic loss after the trier of fact has determined that a product is defective. General or noneconomic damages may include damages for pain and suffering or for emotional distress. This article also considers issues relating to the award of punitive or exemplary damages, which are assessed above and beyond compensatory damages and which are designed to punish a party for especially egregious or reprehensible conduct. This article is one of a series of seventeen research articles on topics related to products liability by the authors and colleagues at Seton Hall University and elsewhere over the past twenty years. (See Appendix A).