Can Courts Double Or Triple 'Nominal Damages' For Willful Chapter 93A, Section 9 Violations?

No. Although a consumer-plaintiff may seek to double or treble actual damages for willful or knowing Chapter 93A violations, a court should not multiply Section 9's $25 nominal damages award if actual damages do not exceed that amount. As explained by the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) in Leardi v. Brown, that is because (1) the multiple damages provision in Section 9 reflects the "Legislature's displeasure with the proscribed conduct and its desire to deter such conduct" and (2) "the award of statutory damages, in circumstances where there is no actual harm, adequately fulfills" that purpose.

According to the SJC, the inability to multiply statutory damages also arises from the common law rule that punitive damages may not be awarded when a plaintiff cannot prove actual harm. As the SJC explained in Leardi, because "the Legislature has determined that an award of $25 suffices as nominal damages, it would be incongruous and inconsistent with that determination