Peete v. Blackwell

504 So.2d 222 (1986)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D, a doctor, hospitalized one of his patients for a severe nosebleed. D applied anterior and posterior nasal packs to control the bleeding. The patient was again experiencing difficulties, and D found that the string securing the posterior pack had been cut and that his patient was bleeding profusely. The patient was in danger of suffocation. D immediately sought to retrieve the pack and to control the bleeding. D required the use of a suction machine to remove the blood from his patient's throat. P, the nurse in charge of the floor on which the patient had been hospitalized, assisted. At one-point D struck her on the forearm and demanded that she 'turn on the [goddamn] suction.' No physical injury of any kind resulted from this striking. It is from this incident that this case arose. P alleged that D had committed an assault and battery against her. She demanded $1.00 in compensatory damages and $100,000 in punitive damages. P got the verdict for $1 and $10,000 in punitives. D appealed. D argues on this appeal that the punitive damages awarded in this case were excessive or that they were improperly awarded in light of the evidence presented.