Court of Appeals of Maryland June 2, 1998, 81, Sept. Term, 1996 (Bowden v. Caldor, Inc.)

ELDRIDGE, Judge.

This case presents several important issues concerning court review of jurors’ punitive damages awards in tort actions.

I.

In March 1988, the petitioner Samuel David Bowden, an African-American then sixteen years of age, was hired by the respondent Caldor, a regional retail department store chain, to work as a customer service representative in one of its Baltimore area stores.