Aug 15, 2018
Duty – Social Service Agency Had Duty to Warn Foster Parents of Child's History of Dangerous Behavior
Defendant, Therapeutic Alternatives Inc., is a private social service agency. They placed a child, D.M., with the plaintiff, Wanda Broach-Butts, and her late husband, Theotis Butts.
Tragically, D.M. returned to plaintiffs’ home fifteen months after leaving and killed Theotis. The trial court dismissed Therapeutic Alternatives on summary judgment and the Appellate Division reversed. The Appellate Division held that Therapeutic Alternatives had a duty to warn the plaintiffs of D.M.’s violent history and to allow them to make an informed decision as to whether to allow him into their home. D.M. had murdered his mother and threatened several people with bodily harm prior to being placed in the home.
The court held that whether the defendant’s negligence was a proximate cause of injury to the plaintiff was a jury question and that the murder was a superseding intervening cause that relieved defendant of liability.