Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Division of Workers' Compensation, Petitioner v. Dami Hospitality, LLC…

Summary

The court held that the Eighth Amendment's Excessive Fines Clause protects corporations from punitive government fines. It adopted a gross-disproportionality test, including consideration of the fined entity's ability to pay, and held that the test applies to each legally distinct per-day violation rather than the aggregate total. The court reversed and remanded for development of an evidentiary record and application of that test to the daily fines. Justice Samour, concurring in part and dissenting in part, would have applied the proportionality analysis to the aggregate fine imposed.