The matter of Xander v. Kiss, 2012 WL 168326, venued in the Court of Common Pleas of Northampton County, Pennsylvania, involved the novel issue of whether an alleged tortfeasor could be subject to punitive damages for causing a motor vehicle accident while distracted by a cellular telephone call.

The plaintiff alleged in the complaint that the defendant, Dennis Kiss, was using his cellular telephone at the time of the accident. She claimed that the defendant’s vehicle left its lane of travel and collided with the plaintiff’s vehicle in the adjoining lane. She alleged that the defendant’s conduct was willful, wanton and reckless, citing Restatement (Second) of Torts §908, as adopted in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in support of the demand for punitive damages.

In adjudicating the defendant’s motion to strike the claim for punitive damages, Judge Leonard Zito found that the allegations in the complaint did not rise to the level of egregiousness required for punitive damages. He framed the accident as involving simply one where the defendant, regardless of the reason, lost control of his vehicle and caused the motor vehicle accident. In support of his decision to strike the punitive damages claim, Judge Zito cited McClellan v. Health Maintenance Organization of Pennsylvania, 604 A.2d 1053 (Pa. Super. 1992), and Phillips v. Cricket Lighters, 883 A.2d 439 (Pa. 2005), which held that punitive damages are an “extreme remedy” available in only the most exceptional matters.

Judge Zito concluded that while the plaintiff’s allegations established a prima facie claim of negligence, they fell short of establishing the defendant’s evil motive of reckless indifference to the plaintiff’s rights. Judge granted defendant’s motion to strike plaintiff’s claim for punitive damages.

What It Means to You

Plaintiffs will continue to push the envelope in an effort to expand those instances where punitive damages are available. Punitive damages are warranted under only a very limited set of circumstances and efforts should be made at every turn to challenge the claim and/or the imposition of punitive damages.