Pusateri

This appeal presents the single issue whether sufficient evidence was present for a jury to assess punitive damages against a stock brokerage firm. Our review of the record impels an affirmative conclusion.

Plaintiffs and respondents Francis and Jenny Pusateri were awarded $45,000 in compensatory damages in a tort action against defendant E. F. Hutton & Company, Inc. (E. F. Hutton) and its account executive, Gilbert J. Johnson, due to Johnson’s “churning” of plaintiffs’ account and engaging in a variety of unauthorized purchasing and trading transactions resulting in losses to plaintiffs of approximately $120,000. The jury also awarded punitive damages of $160,000 against E. F. Hutton alone. Thereafter, the trial court denied E. F. Hutton’s motions for a new trial and for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (nov). E. F. Hutton appeals only from the judg ment awarding punitive damages and the order denying judgment nov. We will conclude that the evidence adequately supports the award of punitive damages.

Standard of Review

“The scope of appellate review of a trial court’s denial of a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict is to determine whether there is any…