Beck v. Kansas University Psychiatry Foundation

• Citation: 580 F. Supp. 527
• Decision Date: 10 February 1984
• Docket Number: 83-2095.,Civ. A. No. 83-2094
• Parties: Rodney D. BECK, et al., Plaintiffs, v. KANSAS UNIVERSITY PSYCHIATRY FOUNDATION, et al., Defendants. Myrtle A. WILLIAMS, et al., Plaintiffs, v. KANSAS UNIVERSITY PSYCHIATRY FOUNDATION, et al., Defendants.
• Court: United States District Courts. 10th Circuit. United States District Courts. 10th Circuit. District of Kansas

580 F. Supp. 527

Rodney D. BECK, et al., Plaintiffs, v. KANSAS UNIVERSITY PSYCHIATRY FOUNDATION, et al., Defendants.

Myrtle A. WILLIAMS, et al., Plaintiffs, v. KANSAS UNIVERSITY PSYCHIATRY FOUNDATION, et al., Defendants.

Civ. A. Nos. 83-2094, 83-2095.

United States District Court, D. Kansas.

February 10, 1984.

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John E. Shamberg, Lynn R. Johnson, Gerald T. Elliott, Ruth M. Benien, Shamberg, Johnson, Bergman & Goldman, Shawnee Mission, Kan., for plaintiffs.

Steven L. Ruddick, John C. McFadden, Sp. Asst. Attys. Gen., Kansas City, Kan., for the State of Kan.

Bryan E. Nelson, Ronald W. Nelson, Nina R. Schloesser, Alder, Nelson & McKenna, Overland Park, Kan., Charles E. Simmons, Chief, Bernard J. Dunn, Kansas Dept. of Corrections, Legal Div., Robert T. Stephan, Kansas Atty. Gen., Leslie A. Kulick, Bruce E. Miller, Asst. Attys. Gen., Topeka, Kan., D. Gary Hunter, Cooke, Ballweg, Borth, Hunter & Simpson, Prairie Village, Kan., Frank Saunders, Jr., Jerome V. Bales, Sally H. Harris, Wallace, Saunders, Austin, Brown & Enochs, Overland Park, Kan., James R. Goheen, McAnany, Van Cleave & Phillips, Kenneth J. Reilly, Boddington & Brown, Kansas City, Kan., Larry L. McMullen, Blackwell, Sanders, Matheny, Weary & Lombardi, Kansas City, Mo., John J. Bukaty, Jr., Williamson, Cubbison & Hardy, Kansas City, Kan., Steven D. Ruse, James P. O'Hara, Shughart, Thomson & Kilroy, Overland Park, Kan., Hal E. DesJardins, Reid Stacey, Dept. of Social & Rehabilitation Services, Legal Div., Topeka, Kan., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

SAFFELS, District Judge.

These two cases stem from the March 20, 1981, shootings of Dr. Marc R. Beck and Ruth Rybolt at the University of Kansas Medical Center Emergency Room. According to the allegations of the complaints, the assailant, Bradley R. Boan, was later apprehended by authorities and confessed to the shootings. Both Dr. Beck and Ruth Rybolt died as a result.

Plaintiffs in their complaints name thirty separate defendants. Since filing their complaints, plaintiffs have voluntarily dismissed against the Kansas Adult Authority, the Board of Regents of the State of Kansas, the University of Kansas Medical Center, the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, Division of Mental Health and Retardation Services of the State of Kansas, the Osawatomie State Hospital, and the Rainbow Mental Health Facility. Plaintiffs did not sue the assailant, Bradley R. Boan.

This matter is before the court on the motions to dismiss and motions for summary judgment of many of the remaining defendants.

Plaintiffs' claims include alleged violations of their rights under the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1988; and state law claims under §§ 1 and 18 of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the State of Kansas; the Kansas Tort Claims Act, K.S.A. 75-6101, et seq.; the Kansas Survival Act, K.S.A. 60-1801, et seq.; the Kansas Health Care Provider Act, K.S.A. 40-3401, et seq.; and the common law of Kansas.

Plaintiffs assert this court has jurisdiction over this matter under 28 U.S.C. § 1343, which grants jurisdiction over civil rights actions, and 28 U.S.C. § 1331, which grants federal question jurisdiction. The plaintiffs also claim this court has pendent jurisdiction over their state law claims. The plaintiffs in the Beck case, but not the Williams case, also assert diversity jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332.

The complaints in both of these cases are detailed and comprise more than forty pages in length. The parties have submitted hundreds of pages in briefs with respect to the various arguments for and against dismissal and summary judgment. This court has reviewed those extensive materials, and finds that oral argument would not be of material assistance to the determination of these matters. Rule 15(d), Rules of Practice of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas.

The following motions are presently before the court:

(1) The motion to dismiss, or in the alternative for summary judgment, of defendants Alfredo Calvillo, Ph.D.; Benjamin H. Day; Carrol Mills, Ph.D.; Simon Roth, Jr.; and Richard B. Walker. These defendants are members of the Kansas Adult Authority and hereinafter will be referred to as the Adult Authority defendants. According to the complaints, from October, 1977, until March, 1980, Bradley R. Boan was incarcerated at the Kansas State Penitentiary at Lansing, Kansas. In March of 1980, Boan was released from his incarceration by the Kansas Adult Authority, despite his propensity for violence and his danger particularly to the University of Kansas Medical Center, its staff, patients and visitors.

(2) The motion to dismiss of the Wyandot Mental Health Center, Inc., A.G. Arnold, M.D.; Steven Solomon, Ph.D.; Guillermo Ibarra, M.D.; and Janice Scott, M.D. These defendants shall be hereinafter referred to as the Wyandot defendants. According to the allegations of the complaints, Wyandot is a mental health treatment facility at which Dr. Solomon is director and defendants Ibarra, Arnold and Scott are doctors. The Wyandot defendants had at one time treated Bradley R. Boan, and plaintiffs allege that they were injured as a result of the negligence of these defendants in their treatment of Boan and their failure to prevent, intervene or protect against the acts of Boan.

(3) The motion to dismiss of Jack C. Pearson. Pearson is alleged to have been director of security services for the University of Kansas Medical Center and to have failed to maintain the emergency room in a safe condition and to have failed to warn plaintiffs of the foreseeable acts of violence by Bradley R. Boan.

(4) The motion to dismiss of Charles Hartman, M.D. Dr. Hartman is alleged to have been the director of the emergency room for the University of Kansas Medical Center and to have failed to maintain the emergency room in a safe condition and to have failed to warn plaintiffs of the foreseeable acts of violence by Bradley R. Boan.

(5) The motion to dismiss and the motion for summary judgment of the Kansas University Psychiatry Association, Associates in Psychiatry, Dr. Paul C. Laybourne, Jr., Dr. Alan L. Krueger, Dr. Donald W. Goodwin, Dr. Manuel P. Pardo, and Dr. William C. Eikermann. Like the Wyandot defendants, these defendants are alleged to have given psychiatric treatment to Bradley R. Boan, to have known that Boan had dangerous propensities as to the foreseeable plaintiffs, and to have failed to prevent, intervene or protect against the acts of Boan.

In considering a motion to dismiss, the factual allegations of the complaint must be taken as true and all reasonable inferences must be indulged in favor of plaintiffs. Mitchell v. King, 537 F.2d 385 (10th Cir.1976); Dewell v. Lawson, 489 F.2d 877 (10th Cir.1974). A complaint should not be dismissed unless it appears beyond a doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief. Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 101-102, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957). The question is not whether the plaintiffs will ultimately prevail, but whether they are entitled to offer evidence to support their claims. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 1686, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974).

In order to rule favorably on a motion for summary judgment, the court must determine that the matters considered in connection with the motion disclose "that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Rule 56, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The principal inquiry is therefore whether a genuine issue of material fact exists. Dalke v. The Upjohn Co., 555 F.2d 245 (9th Cir.1977); Hanke v. Global Van Lines, Inc., 533 F.2d 396 (8th Cir.1976). A motion under Rule 56 will be denied unless the movant demonstrates beyond a reasonable doubt that he is entitled to a favorable ruling. Madison v. Deseret Livestock Co., 574 F.2d 1027 (10th Cir.1978); Mustang Fuel Corp. v. Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co., 516 F.2d 33 (10th Cir.1975). Pleadings and documentary evidence are to be construed liberally in favor of a party opposing a Rule 56 motion. Harman v. Diversified Medical Investments Corp., 488 F.2d 111 (10th Cir.1973), cert. denied 425 U.S. 951, 96 S.Ct. 1727, 48 L.Ed.2d 195 (1976).

I. Plaintiffs' Claims Under 42 U.S.C. § 1983

This court will first address plaintiffs' claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. It is clear that § 1983 is not "a font of tort law to be superimposed upon whatever systems may already be administered by the States." Paul v. Davis, 424 U.S. 693, 701, 96 S.Ct. 1155, 1160, 47 L.Ed.2d 405 (1976). The question in a § 1983 action is whether the actor, under color of state law, has deprived the plaintiff of a constitutional right. The statute imposes liability upon those who, acting under color of state law, deprive individuals of any rights, privileges or immunities secured by the constitution. Section 1983 provides a remedy only, and the substantive right must be found in the "Constitution and laws." Chapman v. Houston Welfare Rights Org., 441 U.S. 600, 99 S.Ct. 1905, 60 L.Ed.2d 508 (1979).

A. The Adult Authority Defendants

Plaintiffs have based their claims against the Adult Authority defendants on the conditional release of Bradley R. Boan from custody on March 5, 1980, and on his unconditional discharge on March 5, 1981. The killings herein occurred on March 20, 1981. These defendants contend that plaintiffs have failed to state a claim under § 1983 for which relief can be granted. This court will consider only defendants' motion to dismiss at this time, as summary judgment would be premature before discovery has been completed herein.

1. Stating a Claim

By the plain terms of § 1983, two— and only two—allegations are required in order to state a cause of action under that...