Elizabeth Sines v. Michael Hill, 106 F.4th 341

The case arises from the 2017 "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, organized by white supremacist groups, which led to planned and actual racially motivated violence.
Multiple plaintiffs, all victims of the rally's violence and harassment, sued organizers and participants for civil conspiracy and related state torts under Virginia law.
District court found defendants jointly and severally liable for compensatory damages from the conspiracy and predicate acts (notably, hate-crime and assault/battery claims).
Jury awarded over $26 million, including approximately $24 million in punitive damages, but the district court reduced punitive damages to $350,000, applying Virginia’s cap to all plaintiffs collectively.
Defendants appealed the imposition of joint and several liability; plaintiffs cross-appealed the one-cap-for-all application of Virginia’s punitive damages cap.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether joint and several liability for compensatory damages is proper for all defendants under Virginia conspiracy law	Liability is proper because all defendants were found part of the conspiracy involving those predicate acts.	They should not be liable on counts for which they were not separately found liable.	Affirmed—joint and several liability was correctly imposed for compensatory damages.
Whether Virginia’s punitive damages cap applies to hate-crime actions	Cap should not apply to intentional torts or hate-crime statute violations.	Cap should apply regardless of the nature of the claim, including hate-crime actions.	The punitive damages cap applies to these actions.
Whether the punitive damages cap applies per plaintiff or collectively	Cap should apply per plaintiff, allowing each eligible plaintiff up to $350,000 in punitive damages.	Cap applies to the entire action, limiting total recovery to $350,000 for all plaintiffs combined.	Cap applies on a per-plaintiff basis.
Whether to certify the per-plaintiff cap question to Virginia Supreme Court	Court should decide per the clear text and history without certification.	Request for certification due to lack of state supreme court precedent.	Not certified—4th Circuit predicts Virginia Supreme Court would hold for per-plaintiff.

Wackenhut Applied Techs. Ctr., Inc. v. Sygnetron Prot. Sys., Inc., 979 F.2d 980 (4th Cir. 1992) (Virginia punitive damages cap applies to any action, not limited to unintentional torts)
Al-Abood v. El-Shamari, 217 F.3d 225 (4th Cir. 2000) (punitive damages cap applies to all defendants collectively, but reserved the per-plaintiff question)
La Bella Dona Skin Care, Inc. v. Belle Femme Enters., LLC, 805 S.E.2d 399 (Va. 2017) (conspiracy claim spreads liability for underlying wrongful acts)
Gelber v. Glock, 800 S.E.2d 800 (Va. 2017) (purpose of conspiracy claim is to spread liability beyond primary tortfeasor)