City of Middlesboro v. Brown

LAMBERT, Chief Justice.

The sole issue in this case is whether the court’s instruction on punitive damages was sufficient to apprise the jury of the degree of culpability it was required to find to justify an award of punitive damages. The trial court instructed the jury on awarding punitive damages and defined gross negligence as the failure to exercise slight care.

John and Teresa Brown sued the City of Middlesboro for damages sustained when the Middlesboro Fire Department, “Fire Department,” failed to extinguish a fire promptly, resulting in the destruction of the Browns’ entire building.…