## Facts

- Patricia Lynn Herald Wilson was injured when her vehicle was struck at an intersection by a vehicle driven by Teri C. Williams.
- Williams was intoxicated while driving and later pled guilty to DUI.
- Wilson sued Williams for compensatory and punitive damages.
- A Kentucky tort-reform statute, KRS 411.184, limited punitive damages by requiring proof (by clear and convincing evidence) that the defendant acted with “flagrant indifference” and with “subjective awareness” that the conduct would result in death or bodily harm.
- The trial court found no direct evidence of Williams’s “subjective awareness” under the statute, declared KRS 411.184 unconstitutional, and instructed the jury under the pre-statute common-law punitive-damages standard (wanton or reckless disregard).
- The jury awarded punitive damages; the Kentucky Court of Appeals affirmed.

## Issues

1. Whether KRS 411.184’s punitive-damages provisions unconstitutionally abrogate or substantially impair Kentucky’s pre-1891 common-law right to recover punitive damages for gross negligence under the jural-rights doctrine.
2. Whether the statute’s “subjective awareness” requirement and clear-and-convincing evidentiary burden effectively prevent punitive damages in cases where the defendant does not testify or participate.

## Decision

- The Kentucky Supreme Court held KRS 411.184 unconstitutional to the extent it abrogated or substantially impaired the preexisting common-law right to obtain punitive damages for gross negligence.
- The Court concluded the statute’s “flagrant indifference” and “subjective awareness” requirements, coupled with a clear-and-convincing standard, materially restricted punitive damages historically available under Kentucky common law.
- The Court approved use of the pre-statute common-law standard for punitive damages in this case.
- The case was remanded for further proceedings consistent with the constitutional ruling.

## Legal Principles

- Under Kentucky’s jural-rights doctrine (rooted in Ky. Const. §§ 14, 54, and 241), the legislature may not abolish or substantially impair common-law causes of action or remedies that existed when the 1891 Constitution was adopted.
- Punitive damages for gross negligence (measured by an objective standard) were recognized in Kentucky common law before the 1891 Constitution and are constitutionally protected from substantial statutory curtailment.
- A statutory punitive-damages standard that requires proof of a defendant’s internal “subjective awareness” can functionally eliminate punitive damages in a class of gross-negligence cases, particularly where the defendant does not participate, and may therefore constitute unconstitutional impairment of a protected remedy.

## Conclusion

The Kentucky Supreme Court invalidated key punitive-damages restrictions in KRS 411.184 because they substantially impaired a pre-1891 common-law right to punitive damages for gross negligence, and it permitted punitive damages to be assessed under the traditional common-law standard.


Williams v. Wilson, 972 S.W.2d 260 (Ky. 1998)