MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS - TORT LIABILITY - EXEMPLARY DAMAGES

Authors

Michigan Law Review, University of Michigan Law School

Abstract

Plaintiff was injured in a collision between the car in which she was riding and a negligently driven fire truck owned by the defendant municipality. Plaintiff's declaration alleged that the fire trucks had been habitually driven in a grossly negligent manner, but the evidence offered at the trial did not substantiate this allegation. The trial court instructed the jury that it could include in the verdict such sum as might be warranted by the evidence as punitive or exemplary damages. The jury awarded $5,000 damages. Held, that plaintiff could recover for torts committed by the fire department, and that although $5,000 was such a small amount that it did not appear to be punitive, the trial court did not err in instructing the jury that they could assess punitive or exemplary damages. City of Miami v. McCorkle, 145 Fla. 109, 199 So. 575 (1940).

Recommended Citation

Michigan Law Review, MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS - TORT LIABILITY - EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, 40 Mich. L. Rev. 135 (1941).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol40/iss1/23