A report dated June 23, 2001 indicates that a state court jury in Missouri has awarded a vending-machine company $1.5 million in compensatory damages, and $50 million in punitive damages. The Service Vending Company charged that Wal-Mart had unfairly insisted that the vending machines be removed from Wal-Mart stores before the machines could be sold to another company. The jury apparently agreed, and fined the world’s largest retailer enough money to fill hundreds of vending machines for hundreds of years. Wal-Mart’s response, as it is to most adverse court decisions, was: “We’re disappointed and surprised by the verdict.”
Congratulations to the Service Vending Company for dropping the dime in court on Wal-Mart. This monetary settlement represents about what a small superstore would gross in sales for a year.