Read about the Ford Pinto case (Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Co., 119 Cal.App.3d 757 (4th Dist. 1981) ) on pages 118-120 of the text and answer the below questions.
1. Describe the Court of Appeal's reasoning in DENYING Ford's appeal (arguing that the trial court's award of $3.5 million in punitive damages to the victim was not authorized or not valid)? [2 points]
2. If you were on the jury, in your opinion, would you have awarded punitive damages to the plaintiffs? How much and why? [Remember that punitive damages are designed to punish the defendant-- to send a message to society and deter or prevent the defendant's behavior to occur again. Punitive damages are not related to the actual cost of the damage incurred by the plaintiff (like medical bills)] [2 points]
3. If you had been on the management team at Ford and all of the other managers agreed not to fix the known problem with the Pinto, but you disagreed, what would you have done based on your own ethics, values and opinion? [1 point]