Cite as: 525 U. S. 299 (1999)
Opinion of the Court
Furthermore, aggrieved insured parties may be awarded punitive damages if a jury finds clear and convincing evidence that the insurer is guilty of "oppression, fraud or malice." Nev. Rev. Stat. § 42.005(1) (1995). Nevada's punitive damages statute places certain limits on those damages—three times the amount of compensatory damages if they are more than $100,000, and $300,000 if compensatories are less than $100,000. See §§ 42.005(1)(a), (b). But the same law adds that these limits do not apply to claims against "[a]n insurer who acts in bad faith regarding its obligations to provide insurance coverage." § 42.005(2)(b).11
Accordingly, plaintiffs seeking relief under Nevada law may be eligible for damages exceeding the treble damages available under RICO.12
In sum, we see no frustration of state policy in the RICO litigation at issue here. RICO's private right of action and treble damages provision appears to complement Nevada's statutory and common-law claims for relief. In this regard, we note that Nevada filed no brief at any stage of this lawsuit urging that application of RICO to the alleged conduct would frustrate any state policy, or interfere with the State's administrative regime. Cf. NAACP v. American Family
11 See also Nev. Rev. Stat. § 42.007(2) (1996) (limiting punitive damages liability by employers for wrongful acts of employees except in "an action brought against an insurer who acts in bad faith regarding its obligations to provide insurance coverage").
12 At oral argument, counsel for petitioners Humana Insurance and Humana Inc. suggested that application of RICO would impair state law, even though that law provided for punitive damages, because under Nevada law, punitive damages may not be imposed when doing so would threaten the solvency of the defendant. Tr. of Oral Arg. 5-6. While Nevada law does appear to prohibit punitive damages that would render a defendant insolvent, see Nevada Cement Co. v. Lemler, 89 Nev. 447, 452, 514 P. 2d 1180, 1183 (1973) (noting that "[i]deally the punitive allowance should be in an amount that would promote the public interest without financially annihilating the defendant" and that "the wrongdoer may be punished, but not destroyed"), the record contains no evidence of insolvency here. See Tr. of Oral Arg. 21.
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