TIMOTHY G. RILEY, No. 20-15882

Plaintiff-Appellant, D.C. No. 3:17-cv-02897-CRB

v. OPINION VOLKSWAGEN GROUP OF AMERICA, INC., DBA Volkswagen of America, Inc., a New Jersey corporation; VOLKSWAGEN AG,

Defendants-Appellees.

LUKE G. SANWICK; KATHRYN No. 20-15884 SANWICK, D.C. No. 3:17-cv-03032-CRB Plaintiffs-Appellants,

v. VOLKSWAGEN GROUP OF AMERICA, INC., DBA Volkswagen of America, Inc., a New Jersey corporation; VOLKSWAGEN AG,

Defendants-Appellees.

RICHARD V. ORTIZ; VIRGINIA TORRES No. 20-15885 ORTIZ, D.C. No. 3:18-cv-06951-CRB Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. VOLKSWAGEN GROUP OF AMERICA, INC., DBA Volkswagen of America, Inc., a New Jersey corporation; VOLKSWAGEN AG,

Defendants-Appellees.

JULIA ROBERTSON, No. 20-15886

Plaintiff-Appellant, D.C. No. 3:18-cv-06956-CRB

v. VOLKSWAGEN GROUP OF AMERICA, INC., DBA Volkswagen of America, Inc., a New Jersey corporation; VOLKSWAGEN AG,

Defendants-Appellees.

BYRON CLENDENEN, No. 20-15887

Plaintiff-Appellant, D.C. No. 3:18-cv-07040-CRB

v. VOLKSWAGEN GROUP OF AMERICA, INC., DBA Volkswagen of America, Inc., a New Jersey corporation; VOLKSWAGEN AG,

Defendants-Appellees.

SCOTT SALZER, No. 20-15889

2 Plaintiff-Appellant, D.C. No. 3:18-cv-07050-CRB

v. VOLKSWAGEN GROUP OF AMERICA, INC., DBA Volkswagen of America, Inc., a New Jersey corporation; VOLKSWAGEN AG,

Defendants-Appellees.

KENNETH J. COON; MARIA E. COON, No. 20-15890

Plaintiffs-Appellants, D.C. No. 3:18-cv-06966-CRB

v. VOLKSWAGEN GROUP OF AMERICA, INC., DBA Volkswagen of America, Inc., a New Jersey corporation; VOLKSWAGEN AG,

Defendants-Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California Charles R. Breyer, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted December 10, 2021 San Francisco, California Before: Ronald M. Gould and Daniel P. Collins, Circuit Judges, and David A. Ezra,* District Judge. Opinion by Judge Gould

* The Honorable David A. Ezra, United States District Judge for the District of Hawaii, sitting by designation.

3 SUMMARY **

Punitive Damages

In appeals stemming from the nationwide Volkswagen litigation related to emissions defeat devices installed in certain Volkswagen and Audi vehicles, the panel vacated punitive damages awards to appellants (who are plaintiffs who opted out of the class action), and remanded with instructions that the district court recalculate punitive damages.

Appellants are individuals who bought or leased a vehicle with an emissions defeat device, and they filed individual suits that were consolidated before the same judge who presided over the multidistrict litigation and class action settlements. The jury awarded four of the appellants various amounts in compensatory damages and $25,000 each in punitive damages. The district court reduced the punitive damages award to exactly four times the amount of the compensatory damages suffered by each plaintiff.

The panel held that the district court erred by holding that a punitive damages ratio calculation of four times the value of the compensatory damages award was the maximum punitive damages award permitted by the Constitution’s Due Process C