M.H. v. Caritas Family Services
| Decision Date | 10 September 1991 |
| Docket Number | Nos. CX-91-406,C9-91-672,CX-91-406,s. CX-91-406 |
| Citation | 475 N.W.2d 94 |
| Parties | M.H. and J.L.H., Respondents (), Appellants (C9-91-672), v. CARITAS FAMILY SERVICES, Appellant (), Respondent (C9-91-672). Nos. , C9-91-672. |
| Court | Minnesota Court of Appeals |
Syllabus by the Court
1. Public policy does not preclude a cause of action on allegations that an adoption agency negligently misrepresented the parentage of a child placed for adoption or the health of the child's natural parents.
2. In proceedings on an intentional misrepresentation claim, the reasonableness of a party's reliance is a question of fact.
3. Pleadings lawfully state a claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress and punitive damages if supported by an independent intentional misrepresentation claim. The amendment of pleadings to add a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress is properly denied where there is no showing of outrageous conduct or physical manifestations of mental harm.
Kay Nord Hunt, Stacey A. DeKalb, Raul Gasterazoro, Lommen, Nelson, Cole & Stageberg, P.A., Minneapolis, for M.H. and J.L.H.
Gordon H. Hansmeier, David K. Ryden, Donohue Rajkowski, Ltd., St. Cloud, for Caritas Family Services.
Considered and decided by CRIPPEN, P.J., and NORTON, and LOMMEN *, JJ.
The trial court certified for our review the question whether public policy precludes a cause of action of respondents M.H. and J.L.H. against an adoption agency for negligent misrepresentations made during the placement of a child in adoption proceedings. Accordingly, Caritas Family Services appeals the trial court decision denying summary judgment on the claim. 1 M.H. and J.L.H. also seek review of the trial court's summary judgment for Caritas on their intentional misrepresentation claim, and its refusal to allow amendment of the complaint to assert claims for intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress and punitive damages. 2
Respondents contacted Caritas Family Services in 1980 to pursue an adoption. Late in 1981, Caritas contacted respondents about the availability of a child for adoption. In the initial phone conversation Sister Cathan Culhane told J.L.H. that there was a possibility of incest in the family of the child. When the couple went to meet the child, Sister Culhane asked M.H. if it mattered to him if there was incest in the family's background, to which M.H. responded no. Respondents apparently did not imagine that the incest accounted for conception of the adoptee child. Neither M.H. or J.L.H., however, made any further inquiries as to when specifically, incest had occurred in the child's background and appellant offered no further information. The only written information given to respondents before the adoption did not mention incest. This writing also described the natural father as being in "good health" and of "normal intelligence."
Respondents quickly observed that the baby, C.M.H., was jumpy and nervous. Respondents continue to have problems with C.M.H., who has a violent nature and has set fire to furniture in their home. The child has been diagnosed as suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, for which he takes Ritalin and receives counseling.
Caritas knew at the time of the adoption that C.M.H.'s natural parents were siblings. Respondents did not learn this until December 4, 1987, during the adoption process for a second child. Respondents also learned the birth father was considered borderline hyperactive, of low average intelligence, and had received counseling at a mental health center when he was eleven.
Respondents sued Caritas for negligent and intentional misrepresentation. They also sought to amend their complaint to add claims for negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress and punitive damages. The trial court granted summary judgment on the intentional misrepresentation claim, concluding that respondents' reliance on Caritas' representations about the incest was unreasonable as a matter of law. The court also denied respondents' motion to amend, finding that none of the proposed claims could survive summary judgment. The trial court denied summary judgment on the negligent misrepresentation claim, and certified the question whether such a claim against an adoption agency offends public policy.
1. Does a negligent misrepresentation claim against an adoption agency offend public policy?
2. Are there fact issues precluding summary judgment on respondents' intentional misrepresentation claim?
3. Are there fact issues precluding summary judgment and justifying amendment of pleadings for respondents' intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress and punitive damages claims?
On review of summary judgment decisions, this court must determine whether there are any genuine issues of material fact and whether the trial court erred in applying the law. Betlach v. Wayzata Condominium, 281 N.W.2d 328, 330 (Minn.1979).
Appellant Caritas Family Services argues that this court should follow decisions in California and Ohio and disallow respondents' claim for negligent misrepresentation on public policy grounds. See Richard P. v. Vista Del Mar Child Care Service, 106 Cal.App.3d 860, 866-67, 165 Cal.Rptr. 370, 373-74 (1980) (); Burr v. Board of County Comm'rs, 23 Ohio St.3d 69, 78, 491 N.E.2d 1101, 1109 (1986) ().
Respondents argue that this claim does not offend public policy. They rely on a Wisconsin case recognizing such a cause of action, Meracle v. Children's Serv. Soc'y, 149 Wis.2d 19, 32-33, 437 N.W.2d 532, 537 (1989), and a Minnesota case recognizing a cause of action for negligent misrepresentation against government officers and employees, Northernaire Productions, Inc. v. County of Crow Wing, 309 Minn. 386, 390, 244 N.W.2d 279, 282 (1976). We agree with the reasoning in the cases cited by respondents and conclude that public policy does not preclude a negligent misrepresentation action against an adoption agency.
In Meracle, an adoption agency informed adoptive parents that their child was not at risk for Huntington's disease because her natural father had been free of it, despite the fact that her paternal grandmother had the disease. Meracle, 149 Wis.2d at 23, 437 N.W.2d at 533. The parents sued for negligent misrepresentation and sought damages for future medical expenses and emotional distress. Id. at 24, 437 N.W.2d at 533. The court disagreed with California and Ohio decisions refusing to recognize the cause of action, and stated that under the circumstances of the case, the cause of action did not offend public policy:
We feel it necessary to emphasize the uniqueness of this case. This is not a case in which an adoption agency placed a child without discovering and informing the prospective parents about the child's health problems. Therefore we need not and do not address the question of whether adoption agencies have a duty to discover and disclose health information about children they place for adoption.
* * * * * *
To avoid liability, agencies simply must refrain from making affirmative misrepresentations about a child's health. We do not hold that agencies have any duty to disclose health information. Further, our decision will not inhibit adoption. Indeed, it will give potential parents more confidence in the adoption process and in the accuracy of the information they receive. Such confidence would be eroded if we were to immunize agencies from liability for false statements made during the adoption process.
Meracle, 149 Wis.2d at 32-33, 437 N.W.2d at 537.
The cause of action is thus limited to those situations where the agency assumes a duty to inform prospective parents about the child's health or the health of the natural parents. The adoptive parents may recover only those extraordinary expenses incurred as a result of the misrepresentation, not all the ordinary expenses of raising a child. See id. at 33, 437 N.W.2d at 537.
Our choice to follow the Wisconsin precedent is shaped by a Minnesota Supreme Court decision in an analgous case. In Northernaire, the court recognized a cause of action in negligent misrepresentation against government officers, concluding that public policy actually favors such a claim. Northernaire, 309 Minn. at 390, 244 N.W.2d at 282. The court stated:
We will continue to allow a cause of action against government officers and employees for negligent misrepresentation of fact because other public policy considerations are more compelling in that context. Members of the public have no other access to factual information maintained by the government except through government officers and employees. Therefore, the policy of promoting accuracy through the prospect of tort liability outweighs the possibility of inhibiting performance of duties of office or employment.
Similar policy considerations exist here. The only channel of information about the adopted child is the adoption agency. A tort cause of action limited in the fashion the Wisconsin Supreme Court has set out in Meracle would promote accuracy when agencies attempt to communicate health information, and would not inhibit the agency's performance. 3 To renounce such liability may actually inhibit adoptions because prospective parents would be warier of the process if the agency had no disincentive to make false statements. 4
The trial court granted appellant's motion for summary judgment on respondents' intentional misrepresentation claim, concluding that there had been no "affirmative...
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