|
Liability |
|
Joint and
Several |
|
Economic
Damages |
Abolished |
Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann.
§ 411.182(3); Prudential Life Ins. Co. v.
Moody, 696 S.W.2d 503 (Ky.
1985).
|
|
Non-Economic
Damages |
Abolished |
See
above. |
|
May a
Jury Allocate Fault Among All Persons Contributing
to an Injury? |
No, except for
settling parties
|
Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. §
411.182(1)(b); Baker v. Webb, 883 S.W.2d
898 (Ky. Ct. App. 1994) (“the thrust of KRS
411.182, considered in its entirety, limits
allocation of fault to those who actively assert
claims, offensively or defensively, as parties in
the litigation or who have settled by release or
agreement.”).
|
|
Market Share
Liability |
No |
Farmer v. City of
Newport, 748 S.W.2d 162 (Ky. App.
1988). |
|
Defenses |
|
Comparative
Negligence |
Yes, pure comparative
negligence |
Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. §
411.182; Owens Corning Fiberglass Corp. v.
Parrish, 58 S.W.3d 467 (Ky.
2001). |
|
Assumption
of Risk |
No |
Parker v. Redden,
421 S.W.2d 586 (Ky. 1967).
|
|
Product
Misuse |
Considered as part of
comparative negligence |
Owens Corning Fiberglas
Corp. v. Parrish, 58 S.W.3d 467, 475 (Ky.
2001). |
|
Compliance
With
Government
Standards |
No |
Compliance with government
standards is admissible, but not conclusive as to
liability.
Jones v. Hutchinson
Mfg., Inc., 502 S.W.2d 66 (Ky. 1973); see
also Morales v. American Honda Motor Co., 151
F.3d 500 (6th Cir. 1998) (applying Kentucky
law).
|
|
Statute
of Repose |
Rebuttal
presumption |
In any product
liability action, it shall be presumed, until
rebutted by a preponderance of the evidence to the
contrary, that the subject product was not
defective if the injury, death or property damage
occurred either more than 5 years after the date
of sale to the first consumer or more than 8 years
after the date of manufacture.
Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann.
§ 411.310.
A 7-year statute of
repose for claims involving improvements to real
property, Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann.
§ 413.135, was declared
unconstitutional in Perkins v. Northeastern
Log Homes, 808 S.W.2d 809 (Ky. 1991).
|
|
Government
Contractor
Defense |
Undecided |
A federal appellate court
has applied the defense. See Tate
v. Boeing Helicopters, 140 F.3d 654 (6th Cir.
1998).
|
|
McLawsuits
Permitted? Can a food manufacturer,
distributor, seller, or retailer be sued based on
an individual's weight gain, obesity, or
obesity-related health
condition? |
No |
Ky. Rev. Stat.
Ann.
§ 411.600-640. |
|
Compensatory
Damages |
|
Is there a statutory limit
on economic damages? |
No |
|
|
Is there a statutory limit
on non-economic damages? |
No |
|
|
Is recovery for
medical monitoring permitted without physical
injury? |
No |
Wood v. Wyeth-Averest
Labs., 82 S.W.3d 849
(Ky. 2002).
|
|
Punitive
Damages |
|
Is there a statutory
limit? |
No |
|
|
Is there any restriction
on imposing multiple punitive damage awards for
same conduct? |
No |
|
|
Does the state receive a
portion of the punitive damage
award? |
No |
|
|
What standard is
used? |
Clear and convincing
evidence |
Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann.
§ 411.184(2); But see Williams v.
Wilson, 972 S.W.2d 260 (Ky. 1998) (overturning
punitive damage reform statute setting liability
standard).
|
|
Procedures |
|
Venue |
|
|
|
Conducive to Abuse
-
Does the statute permit forum
shopping? |
Unreported |
Kentucky’s venue
statute applicable to corporations in personal
injury and contract actions provides that,
generally, “an action against a corporation which
has an office or place of business in this state,
or a chief officer or agent residing in this
state, must be brought in the county in which such
office or place of business is situated or in
which such officer or agent resides; or, if it be
upon a contract, in the above-named county, or in
the county in which the contract is made or to be
performed; or, if it be for a tort, in the first
named county, or the county in which the tort is
committed.”
Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. §
452.450.
|
|
Class
Actions |
|
|
|
Is there a right to an
immediate appeal of class
certification? |
No |
Garrard County Bd. of Educ. v. Jackson,
12 S.W.3d 686 (Ky. 2000) (holding that defendant
did not demonstrate that an erroneous class
certification would prejudice defendant in a
manner which the court could not address on
appeal); Bellarmine College v. Hornung,
662 S.W.2d 847 (Ky. Ct. App. 1983) (order
certifying and designating class representative
was interlocutory and not appealable).
|
|
Appeal
Bonds |
|
|
|
Does the amount of the
required bond place undue pressure on the
defendant to settle rather than
appeal? |
Yes |
The total
amount of the supersedeas bonds that are required
collectively of all appellants in a civil action
may not exceed $100 million.
Ky. Rev.
Stat. Ann.
§ 411.187.
|
|
Evidence |
|
Has the state adopted
Daubert, which requires the judge to
act as a "gatekeeper" against unreliable expert
testimony in civil actions? |
Yes |
Goodyear Tire &
Rubber Co. v. Thompson, 11 S.W.3d 575 (Ky.
2000). |
|
Private Lawsuits Under Consumer
Protection Statutes |
|
Must each individual
plaintiff show that he or she relied on the
allegedly unfair or deceptive practice at
issue? |
No |
Actual deception is
not required.
Telcom Directories,
Inc. v. Commonwealth ex rel. Cowan, 833 S.W.2d
848 (Ky. Ct. App. 1991). |
|
What is the level of
scienter (intent) required of a
defendant? |
Not
addressed |
|
|
Are class actions
permitted? |
Yes |
|
|
Are statutory damages (an
amount set by statute) provided for even if a
plaintiff cannot show an actual economic
injury? |
No |
Actual damages and
equitable relief.
Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. §
367.220(1). |
|
Does the plaintiff
automatically receive treble (triple) damages
regardless of the intent of the
defendant? |
No |
Court may award
punitive damages "where
appropriate"
Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. §
367.220(1). |
|
Does every prevailing
plaintiff receive attorneys' fees and
costs? |
No, it is within the
judge's discretion |
Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. §
367.220(3). |
|
Is conduct authorized by
or in compliance with a state or federal statute
or regulation exempt from the
act? |
Yes
|
This Act “shall not
apply to activities authorized or approved under
any federal or state statute or
regulation.”
Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. §
367.176(2). |
|
Jury Service |
|
Automatic exemptions and
disqualifications based on occupation
eliminated? |
Yes |
Ky. Rev.
Stat. Ann. §
29A.090. |
|
Are the grounds for
obtaining an excuse from service closely
defined? |
No |
A court may excuse a
person from jury service upon a showing of “undue
hardship, extreme inconvenience, or public
necessity.”
Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. §
29A.100(1).
|
|
May jurors automatically
postpone and reschedule
service? |
No |
The judge may excuse a
juror entirely, reduce the number of days or
service, or postpone the juror's service for a
period not to exceed two years. The juror
must provide a reason for the
excuse.
Ky. Rev. Stat.
Ann.
§
29A.100(3).
|
|
Is a juror's employment
and leave time adequately protected during
service? |
Yes |
Prohibits an employer from
depriving an employee of his or her employment, or
threatening or otherwise coercing an employee
because the employee is called for jury
service. An employee who is
wrongfully discharged may bring a civil action
against an employer for lost wages and
reinstatement.
Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. §
29A.160.
|
|
Is there a limit on the
frequency of jury service? |
Yes |
Citizens may not be
required to serve as (i) a trial juror for more
than 30 court days, or (ii) serve on more than 1
grand jury, or (iii) serve as both a grand juror
and trial juror during any 2-year
period.
Ky. Rev. Stat.
Ann.
§ 29A.130.
|
|
Is the length of service
limited to no more than one day or one
trial? |
No |
By law, a person summoned
to jury duty is required to be available for up to
30 court days. Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. §
29A.130. However, according to Kentucky’s
Juror Handbook, entitled You the Jury,
available at <http://courts.ky.gov/stateprograms/juryduty.htm>, once a jury begins hearing a case, it will remain
seated for the duration of the case. In
metropolitan areas, it could be as little as
two weeks. In some rural areas, the
handbook warns, a person may be asked to serve as
many as 150 days. The exact length of
service will be determined by the judge.
|
|
Juror per
diem |
$12.50 |
Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. §
29A.170.
|
|
Is additional compensation
available on lengthy trials? |
No |
|
|
Is the potential penalty
for nonappearance sufficient to encourage
participation? |
No |
Contempt of court with no
set penalty.
Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§
29A.070(5); 29A.150(1),
(2). |
|
Problem
Jurisdictions |
|
Eastern
Kentucky, such as Pike County
|
|
Named as a jurisdiction on
the "watch list" in the American Tort Reform
Association's Judicial
Hellholes
report.
|
