Does it matter the portion of the smaller company? The parent company is responsible for its actions, and that is enough. A giant corporation that does outright damage (and is caught out) should get a sentence as to be repressed in the behavior so executives think twice next time, that is what matters. 2% of value or possibly less is hardly a threatening indictment. Why should not a company be brought to its knees? You know, the same as citizens are? There are jobs and families? So are there on the side of damaged parties, generally. And it has competitors who can do the company's part just as well as they can.
If you're talking about compensatory damages, the size of the talc business doesn't matter. J&J has to make people whole.
If you're talking about punitive damages, the size matters. Making sure that the action is non-profitable is important. But at the same time, you can only expect so much oversight of small parts of a company.
2% of the net worth of a Fortune 50 company is not a small fine.
> Why should not a company be brought to its knees? You know, the same as citizens are?
I'd flip this question around. Why should citizens be brought to their knees? But often, they are not. Certainly not with civil actions.
Well, one way citizens are brought to their knees is precisely because big cos have much unchecked power, directly or indirectly through the state (lobbying and bribe corruption.)
