Funk v. Kerbaugh

Citations

• 222 Pa. 18
• 70 A. 953
• 1908 Pa. LEXIS 651

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Blasting—Damages—Punitive damages.</p> <p>Too great caution cannot be exercised in permitting the recovery of punitive damages for the willful or reckless act of a servant not authorized or approved by the master. The rule that permits a recovery in such cases is a harsh one, and the plainest principles of justice call for caution in its application. While this is so, punitive damages will be allowed against a corporation whose superintendent persists recklessly and defiantly for months in using unusually heavy blasts of dynamite with full knowledge that they are shattering and practically ruining a house and bam, and apparently does the work in this way because it is cheaper to pay damages for the injuries the heavy blasts may cause than to do the work in a different way.</p>