Haley v. Medical Disciplinary Bd.
| Decision Date | 07 November 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. 57521-5,57521-5 |
| Court | Washington Supreme Court |
| Parties | Theodore R. HALEY, M.D., Appellant, v. The MEDICAL DISCIPLINARY BOARD, Respondent. |
Kenneth O. Eikenberry, Atty. Gen., Joyce A. Roper, Asst. Atty. Gen., Olympia, for respondent.
The Washington State Medical Disciplinary Board imposed sanctions against Dr. Theodore Haley after ruling that his sexual relationship with a former teenage patient constituted unprofessional conduct. Dr. Haley appeals the Board's decision. We affirm the Board.
M. 1 was involved in an automobile accident that required the emergency removal of her spleen on May 24, 1986, 2 days before her 16th birthday. The surgeon performing Early in March 1987, M., accompanied by a friend, stopped by Dr. Haley's office for a brief social visit "on an impulse to see the doctor that had operated on her." One of the nurses in Dr. Haley's office testified that, whereas on previous visits M. had "looked like a teenage patient", on this occasion she "looked like a beautiful sophisticated woman". About a week later, M. returned for a second visit. Dr. Haley gave her three glasses of wine and then kissed her on the cheek after walking her to her car. She returned again in another week, and this time, by Dr. Haley's account, they engaged in kissing, hugging, and sexual foreplay in a room used to receive patients. Dr. Haley gave her his beeper number and asked her to call him. She did so a week later, and shortly thereafter--at the end of March or early April--they began a sexual relationship.
the splenectomy was Dr. Theodore Haley, a 66-year-old general surgeon and former state legislator then practicing medicine in Tacoma. Dr. Haley was the surgeon on duty for emergencies at the hospital where M. was taken following the accident; he had no prior contact with her. After the surgery, Dr. Haley provided brief follow-up care for M. The last post-operative visit was on June 10, 1986. On December 1, 1986, M. contacted Dr. Haley to discuss the scar resulting from the surgery. Dr. Haley advised her to see a plastic surgeon and told her that she need not see him again because there was no need for further treatment
In March 1987, M.'s parents received an anonymous phone call informing them of an inappropriate social relationship between M. and Dr. Haley. M.'s parents dismissed the call out-of-hand. They knew of Dr. Haley only as the respected surgeon who had operated on M.
M.'s parents learned of Dr. Haley's relationship with their daughter in the early morning hours of April 6, 1987. At about 3 a.m., they discovered that M. was not in her room and not in the house. Assuming his daughter would be returning home soon, M.'s father parked his car across the street and waited. After about an hour, a pickup truck Dr. Haley's recollections differ as to what occurred after he drove away from M.'s parents' house. Dr. Haley denied trying to evade M.'s father, and testified that after he dropped M. off and pulled away, he noticed someone following him. Reasoning that it was M.'s father and that he was probably upset, Dr. Haley stated that he drove until he found an all-night restaurant where they could sit down and talk. His memory of the ensuing encounter in the parking lot agrees with M.'s father's.
pulled in front of the house, and M. got out and went inside. According to M.'s father, he pulled his car in front of the truck, which then sped away, and he gave chase. M.'s father testified that he chased the truck for 10 or 15 minutes through predominantly residential areas at speeds of 40-60 miles per hour, and then followed it into a parking lot where it came to a stop. M.'s father stated that he was "flabbergasted" when Dr. Haley stepped out of the truck. He also said that Dr. Haley suggested they sit down and have a cup of coffee together, an offer he declined. After a short confrontation, M.'s father drove away
A couple of days later, M.'s father telephoned Dr. Haley at his office. M.'s father told Dr. Haley that he would forget the whole affair if Dr. Haley would have no further contact with M. According to M.'s father, Dr. Haley agreed. However, Dr. Haley later unsuccessfully requested of M.'s mother permission to see M. Despite the opposition of M.'s parents, Dr. Haley and M. continued to see one another in secret. They agreed to disregard the wishes of M.'s parents. M. found it necessary to lie to her parents in order to carry on the relationship.
During the course of their relationship, Dr. Haley and M. went out to dinner two or three times per week. Dr. Haley often furnished M. with alcohol and frequently engaged in sexual intercourse with her. M. has stated that alcohol was always available when she was with Dr. Haley, and that she generally drank to mild intoxication. Prior to the time when M. became involved with Dr. Haley, her M. had experienced some difficulty with high school work in the fall of 1986, and this worsened as the school year progressed. The difficulties were exacerbated in the spring of 1987 by her relationship with Dr. Haley. She eventually dropped out of school. Her parents lost all but nominal control over her, and she eventually moved out of the family home. According to M., the reason she moved out was that her parents told her she could not see Dr. Haley while she was living at home. M. lived with friends for a while; then, during the summer of 1987, she moved into a beach house to which Dr. Haley had access. According to M., she lived there for about 2 months. Dr. Haley says it was only 2 weeks. During this time, Dr. Haley kept the beach house stocked with alcohol, replenishing the supply as the alcohol was consumed. Dr. Haley provided M. with a car and gave her money ($10-$20 per day), which was understood to be in exchange for her house sitting.
consumption of alcohol was not excessive. A clinical psychologist who counseled M. subsequent to her affair with Dr. Haley testified that she is now an alcoholic
In the fall of 1987, M. was living at home again and was back in school. Dr. Haley continued his sexual relationship with her. M. testified, The relationship between Dr. Haley and M. degenerated until, in M.'s words, "[i]t just seemed like we were just drinking and having sex". Their sexual relationship ended in February or March of 1988.
M.'s parents filed a complaint against Dr. Haley with the Washington State Medical Disciplinary Board. After a preliminary investigation, the Board conducted 3 days of hearings to evaluate the charges of unprofessional conduct. On September 15, 1989, the Board announced its decision. The Board found that Dr. Haley's relationship with M. "constituted the exploitation of a juvenile for sexual gratification.
[Dr. Haley] exploited his position of psychological power and authority over [M.] in order to facilitate their improper sexual relationship." The Board also found that "[b]oth [M.] and her parents suffered emotionally as individuals and as a family unit as the result of [Dr. Haley's] continuing his sexual relationship with [M.]." The Board concluded that Dr. Haley's relationship with M. constituted unprofessional conduct under RCW 18.130.180. The Board suspended Dr. Haley's medical license for 10 years, but stayed the suspension subject to specified conditions of probation. Those conditions were later eased in an amended order under which Dr. Haley may practice medicine anywhere he chooses, subject to the Board's approval. He is required to serve a 10-year period of probation during which his professional practice is to be monitored, and he must receive monthly psychiatric evaluations and submit periodic declarations of compliance with the terms of his probation.
In response to the Board's decision, Dr. Haley filed a petition for judicial review of the Board's decision in Thurston County Superior Court. The trial judge certified the case to the Court of Appeals, which then certified the case to this court. We accepted certification and now affirm the Board.
The Board ruled that Dr. Haley's conduct in relation to M. constituted unprofessional conduct as defined by RCW 18.130.180(1) and (24), which provide:
The following conduct, acts, or conditions constitute unprofessional conduct for any license holder or applicant under the jurisdiction of this chapter:
(1) The commission of any act involving moral turpitude, dishonesty, or corruption relating to the practice of the person's profession, whether the act constitutes a crime or not.
. . . . .
(24) Abuse of a client or patient or sexual contact with a client or patient.
In this appeal, Dr. Haley has not assigned error to any of the Board's findings of fact. His sole contention is that the Board erroneously interpreted the law in ruling that he had committed unprofessional conduct under RCW 18.130.180(1) and (24).
We agree with the Board that Dr. Haley's conduct constituted moral turpitude, dishonesty, or corruption relating to the practice of his profession, in violation of RCW 18.130.180(1). We disagree, however, with the Board's application of RCW 18.130.180(24).
The Legislature enacted the Medical Disciplinary Board Act (Act), the statute creating the Board, in 1955. RCW 18.72. The Act was passed in the exercise of the State's police power to promote the public welfare and to create an administrative agency mandated to act as a disciplinary body for medical professionals. RCW 18.72.010(1). The Act also provides that it was passed because of the paramount importance of the health and well-being of Washington...
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