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Komornik v. Sparks8/26/1993
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325 Md. at 460 n.21, 601 A.2d at 653 n.21.
In June of this year we filed the opinion in Adams v. Coates, 331 Md. 1, 626 A.2d 36 (1993), where we addressed a claim for punitive damages in an action between former partners. The underlying cause of action was either a purported tort of breach of fiduciary duty or an action for accounting. We said that in either event the claim for punitive damages "would be controlled" by the policy stated in Zenobia, namely:
"'Punitive damages are awarded in an attempt to punish a defendant whose conduct is characterized by evil motive, intent to injure, or fraud, and to warn others contemplating similar conduct of the serious risk of monetary liability.'"
331 Md. at 13, 626 A.2d at 42 (quoting Zenobia, 325 Md. at 454, 601 A.2d at 649 (citations omitted)).
In the case before us there is insufficient evidence of "actual malice," as defined in Zenobia to express the punitive damage standard for non-intentional (negligence and products liability) tort cases. Komornik's proffer presents no facts from which a jury would be permitted, under Zenobia, to infer that Sparks's conduct was characterized by evil motive, intent to injure, ill will, or fraud. Indeed, the proffer reflects that, at the time of the accident, Sparks's state of mind was to the contrary of that required by Zenobia. His intent was to avoid injury to those stopped ahead of him. He had not been traveling at an excessive speed, and he was attempting to stop the truck.
Komornik, however, rests her primary argument on another holding in Zenobia that supplemented the general principle set forth above. After stating the general principle our opinion in Zenobia next considered how that principle should be applied in actions involving products liability, whether predicated on a theory of negligence or of strict liability. We recognized that "it is not likely that a manufacturer or supplier of a defective product would specifically intend to harm a particular consumer." Id. at 461, 601 A.2d at 653. On that aspect of the case Zenobia concluded:
"We believe that in products liability cases the equivalent of the 'evil motive,' 'intent to defraud,' or 'intent to injure,' which generally characterizes 'actual malice,' is actual knowledge of the defect and deliberate disregard of the consequences. Therefore, in order for actual malice to be found in a products liability case, regardless of whether the cause of action for compensatory damages is based on negligence or strict liability, the plaintiff must prove (1) actual knowledge of the defect on the part of the defendant, and (2) the defendant's conscious or deliberate disregard of the foreseeable harm resulting from the defect."
Id. at 462, 601 A.2d at 653. We made plain that, by "actual knowledge," we did not mean constructive knowledge, id., and that, by "conscious or deliberate disregard," we did not mean "negligence alone, no matter how gross, wanton, or outrageous." Id. at 463, 601 A.2d at 654.
Komornik submits that the facts of her case also show conduct that is the equivalent of "actual malice." She compares Sparks to a defective product. Three prior instances of driving while intoxicated or under the influence, coupled with an afternoon of drinking on the day of the accident, are pointed to by the plaintiff to demonstrate actual knowledge of the defective condition of the "product," namely, reduced sensory perceptions, impaired judgme
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