Neal Berberich entered into a contract with Naomi Jack to perform work on her South Carolina home. During the course of the project, a controversy arose regarding Jack’s use of an automatic sprinkler system that came on periodically in various zones in the yard. In connection with an eventual lawsuit brought by Berberich against Jack, Berberich alleged that he asked Jack to shut off the sprinklers because he and his crew were having difficulty working with the sprinklers on. According to Berberich, Jack refused, told him to “make the best of the situation and work around it,” and became upset when Berberich turned the sprinklers off on several occasions. Berberich also stated that Jack threatened to lock the controls if the sprinklers were turned off again. Jack denied this but admitted that she did instruct one of Berberich’s crew members that her sprinkler system was not to be shut off again. 

At a time when Berberich was working alone on the exterior of Jack’s home, he saw the sprinklers come on in an area of the yard. He noticed that the controls had been locked, so he could not turn the system off. Berberich then moved to the front of the house, away from the sprinklers, to work on the windows. He ascended an eight-foot ladder to reach the top of a tall bay window to clean some caulking. As he was working, the sprinklers came on in the zone where his ladder was located. While coming down the ladder, Berberich slipped on a wet rung and fell to the ground, injuring himself. Berberich stated that he told Jack he had fallen and that he asked her to call for an ambulance, but that she ignored his request. As he walked away from Jack’s home, he collapsed in her driveway. Berberich used his cell phone to call for an ambulance, which arrived shortly after his call. He received medical treatment for his injuries, which included a lumbar strain and contusion, abrasions on his back and his left shoulder, and a swollen right ankle. Jack, in contrast, denied that Berberich told her he had fallen and that he had asked her to call an ambulance. 

Berberich sued Jack in a South Carolina court, alleging that his injuries “were directly and proximately caused by [Jack’s] negligence . . . and recklessness.” His complaint sought recovery for medical expenses, lost wages, and other actual damages. At trial, Berberich contended that Jack’s actions in locking the controls and refusing to turn off the sprinklers constituted reckless conduct (not merely negligence). He asked the trial judge to charge the jury on the definition of recklessness. He also asked for the jury to be instructed that ordinary negligence is not a defense to a heightened degree of wrongdoing (so that if there were ordinary negligence on his part, it could not be compared to Jack’s allegedly reckless conduct). The trial judge denied the requests, concluding that the requested instructions were relevant only if punitive damages had been at issue (and they were not). The trial court instructed the jury on South Carolina’s comparative negligence rule, but not in the way Berberich requested. The jury returned a verdict for the defense. The jury found Berberich 75 percent negligent and Jack 25 percent at fault in causing the accident, resulting in no recovery for Berberich because South Carolina utilizes a mixed comparative negligence approach. When the trial court denied Berberich’s motions for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict and a new trial, Berberich appealed to the Supreme Court of South Carolina. If Jack’s fault consisted of negligence, was the jury verdict in favor of Jack correct in light of South Carolina’s comparative negligence statute? If the trial judge should have given the requested instruction on recklessness and if a proper instruction in that regard could have caused the jury to conclude that Jack acted recklessly, was Berberich correct in his argument that any negligence on his part should not be compared with Jack’s alleged recklessness?