Nicholas King

The case concerned Brenda Hammons, a Pathways, Inc. client with bipolar disorder, who was sexually assaulted by another resident after Pathways placed her at Moore's Boarding Home, an unlicensed facility operating in violation of a court order. Hammons sued Pathways for negligence in selecting and arranging her housing. The trial court granted summary judgment to Pathways on the ground that it owed no duty, the Court of Appeals reversed, and the Kentucky Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals, reinstating the judgment for Pathways. The court held that Pathways violated no statute or regulation and that, under common-law negligence principles, any breach of the duty to exercise reasonable care was not a substantial factor in causing Hammons's injury.

torts & liabilityhealthcare

This case arose from a 1989 car accident on a repaved highway in Kentucky, where plaintiffs sued contractors Charlton Company and Commercial Pavers for negligence in creating a hazardous six-to-eight-inch drop-off without warnings, resulting in fatalities and injuries. During the 1993 trial, one juror shared extra-judicial information with another about the defendants' liability and a settlement with another party, prompting a motion for mistrial. The trial court questioned all jurors individually, determined that only the two involved jurors had been exposed and that the information did not influence the outcome, and denied the mistrial; the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiffs. The Court of Appeals reversed, but the Kentucky Supreme Court reinstated the trial judgment, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding no prejudice from the exposure and that subsequent evidence confirmed the verdict's support in the record.

proceduretorts & liability

In this case, Kirt Thomas sought to vacate his 1987 first-degree robbery conviction and life sentence by arguing that his indictment was void under the 1992 Stark decision because it alleged robbery against a business rather than a specific person. The Kentucky Supreme Court reviewed and overruled the portion of Stark that had declared such indictments void and challengeable for the first time on appeal. The court held that under the modern Rules of Criminal Procedure, an indictment need only provide notice of the offense charged, and any defects are waived if not raised before trial unless they prejudice substantial rights; Thomas had shown no prejudice and had not timely objected. The court affirmed the denial of his CR 60.03 motion, also applying law-of-the-case principles to the sufficiency of the evidence.

criminal lawprocedure

The case involved a minor child injured in a car accident driven by her mother who sought the full limits of the family's auto liability insurance policy, which contained a family exclusion clause limiting coverage for injuries to the named insured or family members to the statutory minimum of $25,000. The Kentucky Supreme Court held that family or household exclusion clauses in liability insurance policies are invalid and unenforceable. The court reasoned that such exclusions, based on preventing collusion among family members, are repugnant to public policy, drawing on prior decisions that rejected similar rationales for guest statutes and spousal or parent-child immunities as they unfairly penalize an entire class of innocent claimants.

torts & liabilitybusiness & regulatory

The case involved Andrew Willgruber, a long-term Kroger employee who was terminated after refusing to violate company ethics policies and was then subjected to post-termination actions including a conditional severance offer requiring a liability release, a false job promise, false performance reports, interference with his disability benefits claim, and surveillance arranged by Kroger to pressure him economically. Willgruber sued for wrongful discharge, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and punitive damages, winning a jury verdict that included $180,400 for wrongful discharge (which Kroger paid) plus additional amounts for emotional distress and punitives. The Kentucky Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals' upholding of the emotional distress and punitive awards. The court reasoned that Kroger's post-termination conduct occurred after the employment relationship ended, was independently egregious and aimed at avoiding liability for the discharge, and was supported by sufficient evidence of intent to inflict severe distress, with the jury instructions properly limiting punitive liability to Kroger's own authorized actions.

labor & employmenttorts & liability

This case arose from a single-car accident caused by uninsured driver David Wine, killing David Webb and injuring his brothers; Webb's estate and family received uninsured motorist benefits from Globe American Casualty, Motorist Mutual, and Aetna, after which the insurers sought subrogation against Wine via an agreed judgment that also awarded the estate and family additional sums. The trial court and Court of Appeals granted the insurers priority in collecting from Wine over the estate's and family's remaining judgments. The Kentucky Supreme Court reversed in part and affirmed in part, holding that the common-law subrogation doctrine, relevant statutes, and the insurance policies' contractual language establishing subrogation rights entitled the carriers to reimbursement before the under-compensated insureds, rejecting application of a "made whole" rule that would defer insurer recovery until full victim compensation.

torts & liabilityprocedure