Jury Awards Victims $72 Million After PacifiCorp Found Negligent in Four Oregon Wildfires

PacifiCorp’s negligence led to four Labor Day 2020 wildfires that ravaged Oregon and the utility has been ordered to pay nearly $72 million in damages to a subset of the victims, according to a Multnomah County jury decision announced Monday.

The jury found the company was grossly negligent and its conduct was reckless, siding with the plaintiffs on almost every one of their legal claims. It awarded the 17 named plaintiffs $4.4 million in economic damages and $67.5 million in noneconomic damages — with the potential for an even larger sum if the jury awards punitive damages.

PacifiCorp plans to appeal the verdict.

The 17 named plaintiffs in the lawsuit represented a wider class of thousands of fire victims, and the jury’s determination applies to the entire class unless victims opted out of the lawsuit. Collectively, the four fires destroyed nearly 2,900 properties, and altogether, the victims are seeking $1.6 billion in damages from Oregon’s second-largest utility. Damages for other members of the class will be determined in later proceedings.

Read the source article at seattletimes.com