Punitive damage

In a well-organized 500-word essay, discuss punitive damages. Include when courts will refuse to honor such clauses, and when such damages may be assessed against a company. Give at least two examples of contract clauses that seem to contain “punitive damage” clauses and whether you feel such clauses should or should not be enforced. (An example if the “returned check fees” that banks charge.)

o Requirements: 500 words

Answer preview

Breach of contract is one of the contract clauses that seem to contain a “punitive damage” clause. In normal cases, the court may not award punitive damage to the defendant for failing to fulfill contract obligations. In this, the court authorizes the defendant to compensate for the actual losses incurred by the plaintiff.  The clause should be enforced because most of the businesses deliberately fail to fulfill their contractual obligations.

The second “punitive damage” clause is the force majeure clause. The Force Majeure clause is only feasible when the company is materially inept at providing goods or services outlined in the contract because of the forces beyond its control, like natural calamities (Hickey, 2017). The company may be required to give out punitive damages if it fails to supply goods or services beyond a period described in the force majeure clause. The clause should not be enforced because companies may suffer a significant loss due to natural calamities or other acts of God activities, which limits their ability to fulfill contractual obligations.

[648 Words]

Punitive damage