Most lawsuits in Illinois are filed because someone negligently injured another person. However, there are different levels of negligence, and our lawyers can help prove whether the defendant’s gross negligence caused your injuries.
While a legal definition of gross negligence is hard to pin down, you can still recover compensation when someone acts in a way that cannot be adequately described by ordinary negligence. Car accidents are a common reason for filing a lawsuit. If the driver’s behavior is reckless or exhibits total indifference to the consequences of their actions, gross negligence might apply, such as in drunk driving cases. You might also have grounds to sue for gross negligence if your doctor deviated from their standard of care so much that the mistake is egregious.
Call our Illinois personal injury lawyers at the Rhatigan Law Offices today at (312) 578-8502 to schedule a free case review.
How is Gross Negligence Defined in Illinois?
Illinois does not have a standard definition of gross negligence. As the Supreme Court of Illinois pointed out in Ziarko v. Soo Line Railroad, gross negligence and wanton and willful behavior tend to be used interchangeably in personal injury cases.
However, willful misconduct implies a certain level of intentionality to the deed. In contrast, gross negligence is typically characterized by reckless indifference to the dangerous behavior one engages in and the consequences it may cause. Someone who is grossly negligent might not intend to injure someone, but they know that what they are doing could end disastrously.
If someone’s conduct constitutes gross negligence, that makes the defendant vulnerable to having to pay punitive damages, along with compensatory damages.
How Do Gross Negligence and Ordinary Negligence Differ?
Negligence is a matter of degree. At one end of the spectrum is ordinary negligence, which occurs when a person fails to use the same level of care that a reasonable person would in similar circumstances.
After all, accidents happen. If someone is going a few miles over the speed limit and gets in a crash, they are definitely negligent, but the law would not consider them reckless. At the other end of the spectrum is intentional misconduct, such as committing assault and battery. Gross negligence lies somewhere in the middle.
What Are the Key Characteristics of Gross Negligence?
Key characteristics of gross negligence include any conduct that’s an extreme departure from what a reasonable person would do, reckless disregard for others’ safety, or a conscious indifference to others’ safety.
Extreme Departure from Reasonable Conduct
Acting egregiously out of line with a reasonable person’s conduct or outside the standard practice of care is often considered gross negligence, like major medical malpractice mistakes.
Reckless Disregard for Others’ Safety
Drunk driving and other egregiously reckless acts also qualify as gross negligence and entitle the victim to punitive damages.
Conscious Indifference to Others’ Safety
Being deliberately and consciously indifferent to others’ rights and safety also warrants punitive damages. It involves an active decision to perform certain acts, knowing that doing so will most likely injure others.
How Does Gross Negligence Cause Car Accidents?
The difference between ordinary and gross negligence will turn on the specific facts of your case. Our team will review your car accident to determine if the defendant’s conduct was grossly negligent.
Driving Under the Influence
Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and causing an accident is one of the most common reasons to sue for gross negligence. Drunk driving is also a crime, so you will have a good argument that an intoxicated driver acted with reckless indifference and knew or should have known that their actions could very likely result in serious or deadly injuries.
Excessive Speeding
Other drivers could be found grossly negligent depending on how fast they were going and where the accident occurred. For instance, going five to 10 mph over the speed limit on a highway is typically considered standard negligence, but going that fast over the limit in a parking lot or through a school zone could be construed as gross negligence.
Or, perhaps the driver was speeding excessively and did not see a pedestrian walking through a zebra-striped crosswalk. We may also argue gross negligence in this instance.
Aggressive Driving
Aggressive driving can be extremely reckless, especially when drivers make very risky maneuvers while changing lanes, follow another car far too closely, or generally put other drivers’ safety at serious risk.
What is Gross Negligence During Medical Malpractice?
Another common scenario where gross negligence occurs is in medical malpractice cases. Healthcare providers have a duty to their patients to provide the same level of care that another healthcare professional with similar education, training, and experience would normally provide. Deviating from that standard is the basis of a negligence claim. The further a doctor or nurse moves from that standard of care, the more likely they are to be grossly negligent.
Surgical Mistakes
For instance, if a surgeon did not bother to check a patient’s chart or did and still amputated the wrong limb, they should be held liable for gross negligence because that is a mistake that almost no other surgeon would make. Leaving a surgical instrument inside a patient only for them to discover it later after developing new injuries would also likely be considered grounds for a gross negligence lawsuit.
Failure to Diagnose
Perhaps a doctor failed to diagnose a serious condition because they did not perform basic tests that most other doctors would conduct based on the patient’s symptoms. Or, an emergency room doctor might have ignored a patient’s condition, leading to serious injuries or death. Our team can gather medical records and expert testimony to show how they grossly deviated from their duty of care.
What Doesn’t Qualify as Gross Negligence in Illinois?
Common breaches of one’s duty of care, including speeding, making medication errors, or failing to warn guests of a property hazard, are largely due to ordinary acts of negligence, which do not require the same standard to prove or claim in Illinois as punitive damages for gross negligence.
To prove ordinary negligence, we must show that the defendant owed you a duty of care, breached it, and caused you injury and damages. To prove gross negligence and get punitive damages, we must take things a step further, proving that they had no regard for your safety when acting, or that their conduct was much too far outside of the standard practice of care.
FAQs About Gross Negligence in Illinois
How Do You Know Whether You Can Sue for Gross Negligence?
Our Evanston, IL personal injury attorneys can help you hold a person responsible for grossly negligent behavior in a personal injury lawsuit. Our team has the experience to determine if the defendant’s conduct in your case went beyond mere negligence. If so, we can help recover your economic and non-economic losses and argue for punitive damages to punish the other party for gross negligence.
What Kind of Evidence Do You Need to Prove Gross Negligence?
Plaintiffs need “clear and convincing” evidence to prove gross negligence and get punitive damages in Illinois, such as eyewitness testimony and video footage.
Can You Always Get Damages for Gross Negligence After a Personal Injury?
You can only get punitive damages in a personal injury lawsuit if the defendant’s conduct rises to the level of gross negligence, they showed an evil motive, or were completely indifferent to your safety.
Can You File a Gross Negligence Claim for a Defective Product?
Some manufacturers do not want to spend the extra time or money to make a product safe or recall one that they know has dangerous issues. Perhaps they knew, or should have known, that the materials they used to manufacture the product were dangerous and likely to cause harm, such as asbestos. Our team can gather evidence of their manufacturing process to determine grossly negligent conduct.
Do You Have to Go to Trial to Get Damages for Gross Negligence?
You must go to trial to get damages for gross negligence, as juries and judges award punitive damages, and you can’t get them by settling.
Do You Have to Request Damages for Gross Negligence?
You must expressly request punitive damages when filing a personal injury lawsuit in Illinois. Our attorneys can note that we are seeking them in the complaint for your claim, as well as the exact amount of compensatory damages you need.
What is the Largest Sum You Can Get for Gross Negligence in Illinois?
Illinois caps punitive damages for gross negligence, other than in medical malpractice claims and those involving criminal charges, at no more than three times the amount of economic damages awarded.
Are Damages for Gross Negligence in Addition to Compensatory Damages?
Damages for gross negligence are always paid in addition to compensatory damages for economic and non-economic losses, and never in place of them.
Contact Our Illinois Personal Injury Attorneys Today for Help Getting Compensation for Your Injuries
For a free case assessment with our Chicago personal injury attorneys at the Rhatigan Law Offices, contact us at (312) 578-8502.
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