The threshold establishing a substantial certainty claim against an employer will generally also support a claim for punitive damages.

The plaintiff injured his hand while in the course and scope of his employment with C & C. Specifically, the plaintiff alleged that the die casting machine he was operating cycled when it should not have. He filed suit against his employer, alleging that C & C was aware of the danger due to prior incidents and prior OSHA citations. The plaintiff also alleged that the injury was "substantially certain" to occur. In denying C & C's motion seeking to dismiss the claim for punitive damages, the court concluded that the level of culpability implied by a substantial certainty of injury encompasses the degree of culpability inherent in a willful and wanton disregard of injury, which is the requisite standard to award punitive damages. As such, since the court had previously held that a fact issue precluded the dismissal of the claim and that a jury could conclude that the injury was substantially certain to occur, it logically follows that the jury could likewise determine that C & C's conduct exhibited a willful and wanton disregard of the plaintiff's safety.

Case Law Alert - 2nd Qtr 2011