Singer Brandy Norwood has been served papers for a $50,000,000 dollar wrongful death lawsuit by the parents of a woman killed in an accident that was allegedly caused by Brandy’s negligent driving. With all due deference to the grieving process, I have to wonder why this family seems to believe that $50 million dollars will undo their daughter’s death by transforming them into veritable Hiltons?

Punitive damages seek to punish and are reserved for tort (civil wrong) cases, including wrongful death, but they are limited to instances of serious or malicious wrongdoing, not mere negligence. Brandy most certainly never intended to kill anyone with her driving that fateful day in December 2006, and this could happen to anyone forced to make a sudden stop in thick highway traffic. For that matter, a fatal car crash would more likely have resulted from Nicole Richie’s latest DUI when witnesses reported her driving the wrong way up a highway exit ramp. The California Highway Patrol has ruled out the possibility of drugs or alcohol as a factor in this fatality. It could have happened to anybody who even sneezes while driving.

Below are copies of the lawsuit filed by the grieving parents. (The Smoking Gun)