What Is Wanton Disregard?
A legal word describing a person’s blatant contempt for another person’s rights or well-being is “wanton disregard.” Wanton disregard is a grave charge that denotes extraordinarily careless activity. It is most often used in the insurance industry to characterize reckless action that results in losses or harm.
Willful and wanton disrespect is a more formal way of expressing wanton disdain, also known as wanton behavior.
Understanding
Negligence is the failure to exercise reasonable responsibility in one’s activities. But not every case of neglect is the same. Different levels of carelessness exist.
In legal terms, wanton disregard is more severe than simple carelessness, although it is not usually intentional malice. Depending on the circumstances and state legislation, wanton disregard may result in punitive damages in a case.
Common Negligence
To be considered ordinary negligence, one must act in a manner that is different from what a reasonable person would do in the same or comparable circumstances. It might also include someone not doing something that a reasonable person would have expected them to do. Laws against negligence mandate that people take reasonable precautions to keep themselves and others safe—a standard of care. If this obligation is not fulfilled, damages may be recouped.
Severe Negligence
Severe neglect often indicates apathy on the part of a person or thing. There is a noticeably higher lack of care or effort than regular negligence. Courts define gross negligence as a breach of one’s legal obligation to respect the rights of others. Punitive damages cannot be awarded in wrongful death cases unless the court finds proof of egregious carelessness.
Examples of Wanton Disregard
While not quite crossing the line into evil action, such behavior is quite close to having the true purpose of injuring or inflicting damage. For instance, “willful and wanton disregard” implies that a person knows the risks involved in a particular course of conduct. They act even if they know it will result in severe damage.1 Instances of Wanton Ignorance
A financial adviser keeps sensitive customer data in a significant company’s online database. Someone hacks into the database, stealing a client’s identity. The customer informs their financial adviser that they believe the financial advisor‘s company has stolen their identity. The financial adviser alerts the relevant firm personnel, but they need help fixing the issue.
This would be seen as wanton disregard, as the business is carelessly disregarding an issue that it has been made aware of, even if it is not purposefully or maliciously disclosing the private financial information of its customers.
A supervisor telling a subordinate to maintain a piece of equipment while still operating would be another instance of wanton disregard. As any reasonable individual would realize, this is an unreasonable and risky activity. Such an action would demonstrate wanton disregard by any harm it caused.
Conclusion
- In legal parlance, wanton disregard denotes egregious carelessness.
- A highly harsh charge that suggests someone acted carelessly is wanton disregard.
- In the context of finance, financial advisers and staff members of financial companies that exhibit a deliberate contempt for rules or the best interests of their customers might be charged with wanton disregard.
