Chaney LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A California appeals court has sharply limited the ability to obtain punitive damages against corporations, ruling in an asbestos lawsuit that the plaintiff had failed to identify specific employees who engaged in behavior deserving such punishment. The plaintiff in Morgan v. J-M Manufacturing, a construction worker afflicted with fatal mesothelioma, sued former units of bankrupt asbestos manufacturer Johns-Mansville over claims it had sold asbestos-containing concrete pipe that caused his illness. The jury awarded the late Norris Morgan and his widow $15.3 million in compensatory damages and another $15 million in punitives. The defendant company argued the Morgans weren’t entitled to punitive damages because they failed to show any particular officer or executive authorized the type of conduct meriting exemplary damages. Plaintiff lawyers at Simmons Hanly Conroy argued the entire organization was at fault, so they didn’t need to introduce clear and convincing evidence that an actual human employee was to blame.