Patrick Byrne, a former executive at Ameris Bank, filed suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia alleging that the Atlanta-based regional bank, which holds approximately $28.1 billion in assets, terminated him in retaliation for raising concerns about how the bank calculated earnings used to determine performance bonuses [1]. His claims survived to trial on four theories: wrongful termination, whistleblower retaliation, unpaid wages, and breach of contract [1].
The jury returned a verdict for Byrne on all claims on June 12, 2026, awarding $16.525 million in compensatory damages and statutory penalties [1]. The panel also imposed approximately $62.9 million in punitive damages, bringing the total verdict to approximately $79.4 million [1]. The verdict reflects a finding that the bank's conduct was sufficiently culpable to warrant punishment beyond compensatory relief.
Ameris Bank announced its intention to appeal the verdict [1]. Post-trial motion practice in the Northern District of Georgia will likely precede any notice of appeal, giving the bank the opportunity to challenge the damages award, the sufficiency of the evidence, and, in particular, the ratio of punitive to compensatory damages under applicable constitutional and statutory limits. The punitive award is roughly 3.8 times the compensatory figure, a ratio that courts have scrutinized under due process doctrine, though that ratio falls within ranges federal courts have sometimes upheld.
No judge name, lead trial counsel for either side, or docket number was confirmed in the available source material and those details are therefore omitted.