Cairl v. State

• Decision Date: 13 August 1982
• Docket Number: No. 81-437.,81-437.
• Citation: 323 NW 2d 20
• Parties: Steven J. CAIRL, et al., Appellants, v. STATE of Minnesota, et al., Respondents, Ramsey County Welfare Department, et al., Respondents, Mary Ann CONNOLLY, etc., Appellant, v. STATE of Minnesota, et al., defendants and third party plaintiffs, Respondents, Bruce Hedge, defendant and third party plaintiff, Respondent, RAMSEY COUNTY WELFARE DEPARTMENT, defendant and third party plaintiff, Respondent, v. Steven J. CAIRL, et al., third party defendants, Appellants.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

323 N.W.2d 20 (1982)

Steven J. CAIRL, et al., Appellants, v. STATE of Minnesota, et al., Respondents, Ramsey County Welfare Department, et al., Respondents, Mary Ann CONNOLLY, etc., Appellant, v. STATE of Minnesota, et al., defendants and third party plaintiffs, Respondents, Bruce Hedge, defendant and third party plaintiff, Respondent, RAMSEY COUNTY WELFARE DEPARTMENT, defendant and third party plaintiff, Respondent, v. Steven J. CAIRL, et al., third party defendants, Appellants.

No. 81-437.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

August 13, 1982.

James Redman, Collins, Buckley, Sauntry & Haugh, St. Paul, for appellants Cairl, et al.

Hvass, Weisman & King and Reed MacKenzie, Minneapolis, for appellants Connolly, etc., et al.

Warren Spannaus, Atty. Gen., William Manning, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., St. Paul, for respondent State.

Thomas W. Foley, County Atty., Stephen Befort, Asst. County Atty., St. Paul, for respondent Ramsey County Welfare Dept.

Robert Austin, Minneapolis, for respondent Bruce Hedge.

Minnesota Medical Assoc., Kathleen A. Meyerle, Minn. Psychological Assoc., Donna J. Wolfson, Luther Granquist and Anne Henry, Legal Advocacy for Developmentally Disabled Persons in Minn., Minneapolis, amici curiae.

Heard, considered and decided by the Court en banc.

OTIS, Justice.

This is a negligence action arising out of a fire intentionally set by a boarding student, Tom Connolly, while visiting his family on holiday leave from the Minnesota Learning Center at Brainerd State Hospital. The appellant Cairl sues for damages arising out of the destruction of his apartment building, and Mrs. Connolly seeks damages for the death of her daughter Tina and for severe injuries sustained by her daughter Tamara. Plaintiffs' allege that with a known history of starting fires Connolly's release was negligent, and that the State of Minnesota, the County of Ramsey Welfare Department, and certain state and county employees, breached their duty to warn plaintiffs of Connolly's dangerous propensities. Defendants' motions for summary judgment were granted and we affirm.

The facts are not essentially in dispute. Connolly is borderline mentally retarded with an I.Q. of 57. In September 1976, at age 15, he was adjudicated a delinquent and was placed in a foster home. His mother, a recipient of AFDC, was ill and unable to control him. His problems were thought to be more psychological than delinquent and his supervision was therefore transferred by Ramsey County Juvenile Court from a county corrections officer to county welfare caseworker Douglas Johnson.

His adjustment to the original foster home was unsatisfactory and in February 1977 he was placed in another home. While there he was suspected of starting three fires, one at his mother's home, one in a woods near his foster home, and one in a locker at school. Although he was never adjudicated as having been responsible, there is little doubt but that he was involved.

In May 1977 he ran away and was found in a Roseville apartment at the scene of another fire. Arson charges brought against him were eventually dismissed for lack of evidence. However, by order of the Ramsey County Juvenile Court he was placed in Fairview Hospital's Adolescent Treatment Unit where he stayed for three months prior to his being sent to Minnesota Learning Center. Although his behavior at Fairview Hospital improved, his psychiatrist did note that Connolly's propensity for starting fires resulted from "frustration and aggression and does remain a concern for the next several years."

In September 1977 he was admitted to Minnesota Learning Center which is not a custodial facility designed to segregate dangerous persons, but is an open door facility, operated by the Department of Public Welfare to provide treatment and education to mentally retarded youths with behavioral problems. In order to avoid institutional dependence and to promote speedy re-entry into the community, the Center is committed to treating its students by the least restrictive means and encourages home visits.

Because Connolly had not started any fires at Fairview Hospital his initial program at the Center did not target that problem for treatment. Although in October 1977 he did set a fire in a wastebasket at the Center, the staff apparently did not consider it a serious incident because it was started in an open area and was treated only as an attempt to attract attention. Shortly thereafter he was a suspect in a fire at the Center in November 1977. At that point his behavior became a target for treatment.

A conference attended by his mother, Mary Ann Connolly, and county caseworker, Douglas Johnson, was then held at the Center. His problems were evaluated and a program established to modify his behavior. The subject of a home visit was discussed and a Christmas vacation planned.

On December 21, 1977, Connolly was released for a Christmas home visit by defendant Bruce Hedge, the "community reentry facilitator" at the Center. While the program to modify his firestarting behavior had not yet been implemented, a review of his file by medical staff at Minnesota Learning Center resulted in a decision to grant him a holiday pass. This decision as part of his overall treatment program, was in accordance with stated policy to provide treatment by the least restrictive alternative, and was based in part upon the fact that Connolly had acquired numerous "token economy" points which are given for good behavior.

Mary Ann Connolly and county caseworker Douglas Johnson were both advised that Connolly was returning home and Douglas Johnson accompanied him there. In the early morning hours of December 23, 1977, Connolly set a fire in the living room couch of his mother's apartment, as a result of which Tina Connolly was killed, Tamara Connolly was severely burned, and the four-plex in which Connolly's mother's apartment was located was destroyed.

The following issues are raised by this appeal:

1. Was the decision to release Tom Connolly for holiday home visit protected by the doctrine of discretionary immunity?

2. Did defendants violate statutes, court order, or regulations in releasing Tom Connolly for holiday home visit?

3. Were defendants under a duty to warn plaintiffs about Tom Conolly\'s dangerous propensities?

4. Did defendant Bruce Hedge, the community re-entry facilitator at Minnesota Learning Center, waive immunity to the extent of coverage under his private professional liability insurance policy?

1. We first consider whether the decision to release Tom Connolly was protected by the doctrine of discretionary immunity.¹ The State Tort Claims Act and the Municipal Tort Liability Act both provide governmental immunity from tort liability based upon the performance, or nonperformance, of a discretionary act. See Minn.Stat. § 3.736, subd. 3(b) (1980) and Minn.Stat. § 466.03, subd. 6 (1980). This exemption from tort liability recognizes that the courts, through the vehicle of a negligence action, are not an appropriate forum to review and second-guess the acts of government which involve "the exercise of judgment or discretion." Susla v. State, 311 Minn. 166, 175, 247 N.W.2d 907, 912 (1976). As stated in Weiss v. Fote, 7 N.Y.2d 579, 167 N.E.2d 63, 200 N.Y.S.2d 409 (1960):

To accept a jury\'s verdict as to the reasonableness and safety of a plan of governmental services and prefer it over the judgment of the governmental body which originally considered and passed on the matter would be to obstruct normal governmental operations and to place in inexpert hands what the Legislature has seen fit to entrust to experts.

Id. at 585-86, 167 N.E.2d at 66, 200 N.Y. S.2d at 413.

The problem, of course, is in determining whether a particular act of government involves the exercise of discretion. As this court recently stated, that determination "has been subject to enigmatic application and occasional breakdown." Larson v. Independent School District No. 314, 289 N.W.2d 112, 120 (Minn.1979). The problem is compounded by the fact that almost every act involves some measure of discretion, and yet undoubtedly not every act of government is entitled to discretionary immunity. As we have said, "discretionary immunity must be narrowly construed in light of the fact that it is an exception to the general rule of governmental liability." Id. at 121. Accordingly we must examine the nature of the decisionmaking process to determine whether discretionary immunity obtains. Id. at 120; Williamson v. Cain, 310 Minn. 59, 61, 245 N.W.2d 242, 244 (1976); Smith v. United States, 375 F.2d 243, 246 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 389 U.S. 841, 88 S.Ct. 76, 19 L.Ed.2d 106 (1967).² The decision to release Tom Connolly, involving as it does the professional evaluation of such factors as the protection of the public, his physical and psychological needs, the relative suitability of the home environment, and the need to reintegrate him into the community, is precisely the type of governmental decision that discretionary immunity was designed to protect from tort litigation by after-the-fact review.³ It involves the balancing of complex and competing factors comprising "a discretionary choice between alternatives." Larson v. Independent School District No. 314, 289 N.W.2d 112, 120 (Minn.1980). Moreover the decision is an important element in planning Tom Connolly's overall treatment program and is thus indicative of "decisionmaking on the planning level of conduct." Id.

This conclusion finds direct support in our decision in Papenhausen v. Schoen, 268 N.W.2d 565 (Minn.1978).⁴ There, the victim of an aggravated assault and rape committed by a patient of the Anoka State Hospital brought an action against the state and certain state officials alleging negligence in the decision to transfer the patient for a short term medical parole from the high security St. Cloud Reformatory to the minimum security Anoka State Hospital. The patient escaped from the minimum security state hospital...