While driving, a pickup truck carries a passenger in the open bed. The driver swerves to frighten the passenger, who is injured. The passenger sues for compensatory and punitive damages. Which claim would NOT support punitive damages?

• A. Negligence
• B. Intentional tort
• C. Reckless disregard
• D. Fraudulent misrepresentation

Answer: (A)

Punitive damages punish truly egregious conduct by the defendant and are reserved for situations showing malice, intent to injure, conscious disregard of safety, or fraud. An ordinary negligence claim rests on a failure to exercise reasonable care and, by itself, does not carry the mental state needed for punitive damages. In this scenario, swerving to frighten the passenger shows intentional behavior or a conscious disregard for the passenger’s safety, which could support punitive damages under an intentional tort or a reckless-disregard theory, and fraud could support punitive damages if deceit is involved. Because the claim framed as negligence does not, on its own, establish the requisite intent or conscious disregard, it would not support punitive damages.