Western Indus. Inc. v. Poole

Punitive damages in cases involving negligent hiring and retention are recoverable only upon a showing of "an entire want of care," which raises a presumption of conscious indifference to the consequences.

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Western Industries, Inc. Western appeals from the trial court’s denial of its motion for partial summary judgment concerning Jerry Lee Poole’s claims for negligent hiring and retention, negligent entrustment, and punitive damages arising from an automobile collision in which a Western employee injured Poole while driving a company truck. We hold that the trial court should have granted Western’s motion on the negligent entrustment and punitive damages claims, but did not err when it denied summary judgment on the negligent hiring and retention claim. We therefore affirm in part and reverse in part. On appeal from a grant of a motion for summary judgment, we review the evidence de novo, viewing it in the light most favorable to the non-movant, to determine whether a genuine issue of fact remains and whether the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.1

So viewed, the evidence shows that in May 2002, Samuel Shareef applied for a position as a service technician with Western, an extermination company. Western’s branch manager for the state of Georgia interviewed Shareef for the job, and was responsible for evaluating his application and making the decision to hire him. The branch manager testified to “our policy” that “we can’t hire somebody unless we have a drug screen and unless we have a motor vehicle record of some sort.” Under this policy, prospective employees were required to provide the manager or his immediate subordinate with a copy of their motor vehicle record, which would have been “the only way we would know if the prospective employee has a suspended license.” The branch manager also testified that “there’s no way Shareef could have been hired” without providing a copy of his motor vehicle record. That record was not recovered from his employment file at Western, however.

Western Indus. Inc. v. Poole

Punitive damages in cases involving negligent hiring and retention are recoverable only upon a showing of "an entire want of care," which raises a presumption of conscious indifference to the consequences.

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