Opinion ID: 788028
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Judgment as a Matter of Law on Issue of Recklessness8

Text: 33 Kuntz's second amended complaint alleged that the Cooperative's conduct was willful and reckless. Under Idaho law at the time this action was filed, a personal injury plaintiff's non-economic damages were capped at $400,000 unless the cause of action arose out of willful or reckless misconduct. IDAHO CODE § 6-1603 (Michie 2000). The Idaho Code does not define willful or reckless misconduct within the meaning of § 6-1603. See IDAHO CODE § 6-1601. The Idaho courts, however, have interpreted willful and reckless in connection with several similar statutory provisions, and have determined that it refers to conduct where the actor intentionally does or fails to do an act, knowing or having a reason to know facts which would lead a reasonable man to realize that his conduct not only creates an unreasonable risk of harm to another, but involves a high degree of probability that such harm would result. Harris v. Idaho, Dep't of Health & Welfare, 123 Idaho 295, 847 P.2d 1156, 1160 (1992) (quoting Jacobsen v. City of Rathdrum, 115 Idaho 266, 766 P.2d 736, 740 (1988)). The Idaho courts have emphasized that the key to the meaning of reckless or willful conduct is knowledge, thus implying an element of foreseeability. Hunter v. Idaho, Dep't of Corrs., Div. of Probation & Parole, 138 Idaho 44, 57 P.3d 755, 760 (2002); Harris, 847 P.2d at 1160. Furthermore, the Idaho courts have rejected `the specific mechanism of injury' approach to foreseeability in favor of `the general risk of harm' approach. Orthman v. Idaho Power Co., 130 Idaho 597, 944 P.2d 1360, 1364(1997). Therefore, with regard to the willful and reckless nature of the Cooperative's conduct, the relevant question is not whether the Cooperative could have foreseen that anyone would have attempted to change the billboard sign using a metal pole and in violation of the Idaho High Voltage Act, but rather whether moving this high voltage line and maintaining it within eight feet of the billboard involved a high probability that harm would result. 34 We agree with the district court that there was sufficient evidence to create a jury question on the issue of willful or reckless conduct. It is undisputed that an electric utility is held to the highest degree of care. The Cooperative moved its lines closer to the billboard without warning. Expert evidence indicated that a ten-foot clearance provided the highest degree of safety, and that the Cooperative had a policy of observing that standard in other instances. There was also evidence of the Cooperative's prior dealings with other billboard owners whose structures were within ten feet of its lines, including the fact that the Cooperative required those other billboard owners to move their billboards to comply with the Idaho High Voltage Act before it would provide service. The evidence also indicated that the Cooperative's engineers knew that there was a billboard within close proximity of the new lines, that the billboard had a catwalk, and that the billboard was changed periodically. 9 If we view this evidence, as we must, in the light most favorable to Kuntz, the non-moving party, and focus the foreseeability question on the general risk of harm, it is clear that conflicting inferences on the issue of foreseeability may be drawn from these facts. Therefore, the district court properly denied judgment as a matter of law and submitted the issue of reckless or willful conduct to the jury. 10 35