The Supreme Court of Ohio has ruled that in civil lawsuits, only jurors who find a person acted negligently can vote to determine if that person is at fault for causing the plaintiff’s injuries. This decision applies specifically to negligence cases, requiring three-fourths of the jury members to agree on a verdict.
In a 5-2 decision, the court upheld the "same-juror rule" over the "any-juror rule," reversing a Second District Court of Appeals ruling. The case involved Good Samaritan Hospital and other medical providers in a wrongful death lawsuit. Chief Justice Sharon L. Kennedy wrote for the majority, stating it would be illogical for jurors who did not find negligence to vote on causation.
“Consequently, the same three-fourths of the jurors must concur on all elements for a verdict finding a defendant liable for negligence to be valid,” she explained.
The decision reinstated a Montgomery County Common Pleas Court jury verdict favoring the hospital system and its providers. In this case, six jurors agreed that nurse anesthetist Sandra Ward was negligent but did not believe her actions caused Scott Boldman's death following an emergency appendectomy.
Justices Patrick F. Fischer, R. Patrick DeWine, Michael P. Donnelly, and Joseph T. Deters joined Chief Justice Kennedy's opinion.
Justice Jennifer Brunner dissented, arguing that the same-juror rule should apply only to comparative negligence cases where both parties share some fault. She criticized the majority for disregarding 30 years of precedent by expanding this rule to all negligence cases. Justice Melody Stewart joined her dissent.
In December 2017, Scott Boldman underwent surgery at Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati after being transferred from Good Samaritan North Health Center in Dayton due to stomach pain. Boldman had several health issues including morbid obesity and Type I diabetes. Post-surgery, he became combative and removed his breathing tube, which led to his death according to his family’s claims against nurse anesthetist Sandra Ward and supervising anesthesiologist Vincent Phillips.
Janet Hild, administrator of Boldman's estate, filed a lawsuit against multiple medical providers associated with Good Samaritan facilities. An eight-member jury found Ward negligent but not responsible for Boldman's death after deliberating under specific instructions challenged by Hild's attorney.
Hild appealed the trial court's decision based on these instructions but lost when the Supreme Court sided with Good Samaritan Hospital upon appeal.
Chief Justice Kennedy noted that since 1912 Ohio law requires three-fourths concurrence among jurors in civil lawsuits and emphasized logical consistency in applying this standard across all elements of negligence cases—duty, breach of duty, and proximate cause.
Justice Brunner's dissent argued that logic should not override legal precedent established since 1991 when courts applied the same-juror rule exclusively to comparative negligence cases without issue.
The full text of this opinion is available online as Slip Opinion No. 2024-Ohio-3338.
___