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Pensioner robbed of $1,338 is taking NAB to court for millions
(www.abc.net.au)
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Is this math based on any logic within the law? Typically you should just sue for the damages you sustained + costs, I don't see how the fact that the bank has a lot of money would change that, unless there's some kind of law prescribing this?
He's asking for exemplary (punitive) damages - something that can be granted for egregious conduct as a way of scaring others from doing something similar. Since it's supposed to scare banks into compliance the amount is not that crazy.
I just had a look at it. Note that this is the first source i came across. It seems to be in line with the arguments of Williams
https://legalvision.com.au/4-things-to-know-about-exemplary-damages/
So it is possible that the court would follow the reasoning of Williams that the bank has abused its power in rushing to put the blame on him instead of investigating the fraud properly or taking measures to prevent the fraud. As bank customers seem to be regular victims of such fraud and the bank seems to generally just deny the claims instead of prevent the fraud, the argument of "abuse of power" and "malice" seems plausible to me. (Who is not a legal expert, leave alone in Australia)
If the court follows the reasoning of Williams that the bank needs to be handed a punitive damage sentence to discourage it from abusing its powers against its customers, i find his calculation appropriate. His pension seems in line with typical pension rates in Australia and the damage from the fraud also seems to be in the usual range. So punishing the bank with a comparable relative damage doe snot seem unfair. One could argue that his calculation is still quite generous as he is targeting the banks profits after tax, while his pension has to cover everything, and his "disposable" income from the pension is much lower.
I see, interesting. Thanks for doing the research.