Morgan v. Greenwaldt

• Decision Date: 24 May 2001
• Docket Number: No. 2000-CA-00202-SCT.,2000-CA-00202-SCT.
• Citation: 786 So.2d 1037
• Parties: Genia A. MORGAN v. Brenda GREENWALDT, Susan Brotherton, Melinda Leah Lewis and St. Dominic-Jackson Memorial Hospital.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

786 So.2d 1037

Genia A. MORGAN v. Brenda GREENWALDT, Susan Brotherton, Melinda Leah Lewis and St. Dominic-Jackson Memorial Hospital.

No. 2000-CA-00202-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

May 24, 2001.

E. Michael Marks, Julie Ann Epps, Jackson, Attorneys for Appellant.

Christopher A. Shapley, Andrea La'Verne Ford Edney, Jackson, Attorneys for Appellees.

Before BANKS, P.J., SMITH and WALLER, JJ.

SMITH, Justice, for the Court:

¶ 1. Genia A. Morgan ("Morgan") sued St. Dominic-Jackson Memorial Hospital ("Hospital"), and two of the Hospital's nurses, Brenda Greenwaldt and Susan Brotherton, and a psychiatric technician, Melinda Leah Lewis, over an incident that occurred in June 1996. Morgan alleged that she had been assaulted and battered, falsely imprisoned, and treated negligently while she was a patient. She also sued for intentional infliction of emotional distress. The trial court granted a directed verdict for all the defendants on the issues of assault and battery, false imprisonment, gross negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, but allowed the jury to determine if the defendants were negligent in their treatment of Morgan. After four days of trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendants, and the trial court entered judgment accordingly. Morgan's motion for a new trial was denied January 4, 2000, and thereafter she appealed to this Court. We find no reversible error and affirm the judgment of the trial court.

FACTS

¶ 2. Genia Morgan started seeing a psychiatrist in 1990 for depression. In early June 1996, Morgan's psychiatrist, Dr. Barbara Goff, suggested that Morgan voluntarily check into the psychiatric unit of the Hospital due to her severe depression and sleep disorder. Dr. Goff wanted Morgan in a monitored environment while she worked on adjusting Morgan's medication. At the time of her admission, Morgan was having suicidal thoughts, and her depression had advanced to the stage where she had given up her job. Also, Morgan was experiencing hallucinations and trances which required an adjustment in her anti-psychotic medication. During her admission assessment, Morgan reported having a metaphysical experience. Morgan described this experience to the admitting nurse as one where "[she] was lying in bed when something grabbed [her] neck and then it let go when [she] started to pray." Upon her admittance into the Hospital, Morgan signed a Consent to Treatment Form authorizing the Hospital to treat her for illness. She was placed on the intermediate ward where patients were free to walk around the floor and mingle with other patients.

¶ 3. On June 18, 1996, Morgan went to the nurses' station and asked for a bottle of hydrogen peroxide that she said she had brought to the Hospital with her. She claimed that it was her practice to brush her teeth with hydrogen peroxide. Nurse Susan Brotherton looked for the hydrogen peroxide but could not locate it. Melinda Leah Lewis, a psychiatric technician, and Brotherton checked Morgan's personal belongings checklist, which is filled out upon a patient's admittance to the Hospital. The hydrogen peroxide was not listed on the sheet as one of the items brought in by Morgan. Brotherton told Morgan that she would call Dr. Goff to get an order for the hydrogen peroxide. Brotherton called Dr. Goff's office and left a message regarding the peroxide and its intended use by Morgan as a mouth rinse. Dr. Goff stated that Morgan could not have the peroxide but could have Cepacol mouthwash instead. Brotherton informed Morgan of the doctor's orders. Morgan became upset and left the unit. Thereafter, she retreated to her room crying.

¶ 4. Brotherton, Lewis, and technician Jeannie Smith walked toward Morgan's room to see what was wrong. Brotherton and Lewis entered the Morgan's room. Morgan was lying across the bed crying. In an effort to calm her down, Brotherton told Morgan that even though there was no record of her bringing the hydrogen peroxide into the Hospital, the Hospital could reimburse her if she believed the Hospital was responsible for the loss. According to Brotherton's testimony, Morgan began yelling profanity and ordered the nurses out of her room. The nurses returned to their station.

¶ 5. Shortly thereafter, Morgan came out of her room and approached the nurses' station. According to Brotherton and Lewis, Morgan yelled, used profanity, and demanded her hydrogen peroxide. She walked to the nurse manager's door and began pounding her fist on the door. At this point, Dr. Goff was again called, and Brotherton left a message with the doctor's secretary that Morgan was out of control and was acting in a hostile manner. Due to the escalating situation, Brotherton called the nursing supervisor, Brenda Greenwaldt. When Greenwaldt arrived and introduced herself, Morgan started ranting and raving that she demanded an apology. Morgan then proceeded to pound her fist on the nurses' station desk and point her finger in nurse Greenwaldt's face. According to Greenwaldt, Brotherton, and Lewis, the patient appeared totally out of control and became a threat to the safety of herself and others.

¶ 6. At this point, Greenwaldt asked for security backup. Leah Lewis made a "446" call. Such a call is a security code used by the Hospital staff to alert other staff members that back-up help is needed due to a patient getting out of control. Again, Brotherton called Dr. Goff to inform her that the situation had escalated and that a "446" had been called. Dr. Goff was in a session with a patient when Brotherton called; however, she returned the call just as personnel were responding to the "446" call. At this point, the testimonies differed. According to Dr. Goff, she "specifically and absolutely did not say it was okay to put her in seclusion." However, according to Brotherton, Dr. Goff told her to move the patient to a protective environment until she had calmed down and to prevent giving her any sedating medication. Specifically, Greenwaldt wrote an order that stated "[p]lace in seclusion for threatening staff for four to six hours until calm and nonthreatening."

¶ 7. Several witnesses testified that Morgan was escorted, without any physical contact, to the seclusion area. Even Morgan stated in her testimony that she walked to seclusion on her own accord. According to Morgan, she was strip searched and forced to change into a Hospital gown in front of several people. However, various staff members of the Hospital testified that it was standard procedure for someone in seclusion to be searched for dangerous instrumentalities and to change into a Hospital gown. Further, according to Hospital personnel, Leah Lewis stood in front of the window to the seclusion door so there would be privacy. Morgan was left in seclusion for about two hours, from 4:30 p.m. until 6:45 p.m.

¶ 8. Morgan raises the following issues on appeal:

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT PROPERLY DIRECTED A VERDICT ON ALL COUNTS OF INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, FALSE IMPRISONMENT, GROSS NEGLIGENCE, AND ASSAULT AND BATTERY?

II. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN REFUSING A CONTINUANCE?

ANALYSIS

I.

¶ 9. At the close of the testimony, the defendants moved for a directed verdict on all counts except the medical malpractice negligence claim. The trial court granted the motion, thereby taking from the jury the claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, gross negligence, and assault and battery. Morgan argues that there was sufficient evidence to make out a jury question on all of these claims, and thus, the directed verdict for the defendants was reversible error.

¶ 10. This Court conducts a de novo review of a motion for directed verdict. Northern Elec. Co. v. Phillips, 660 So.2d 1278, 1281 (Miss.1995). If we find that the evidence favorable to the non-moving party and the reasonable inferences drawn therefrom present a question for the jury, the motion should not be granted. Id. (citing Pittman v. Home Indem. Co., 411 So.2d 87, 89 (Miss.1982)). This Court has also held that an issue should only be presented to the jury when the evidence creates a question of fact on which reasonable jurors could disagree. Herrington v. Spell, 692 So.2d 93, 97 (Miss.1997).

A. False Imprisonment

¶ 11. False imprisonment has only two elements: "detention of the plaintiff and the unlawfulness of such detention." Lee v. Alexander, 607 So.2d 30, 35 (Miss. 1992) (citing Page v. Wiggins, 595 So.2d 1291 (Miss.1992); Thornhill v. Wilson, 504 So.2d 1205, 1208 (Miss.1987) (citing State ex rel. Powell v. Moore, 252 Miss. 471, 174 So.2d 352, 354 (1965); Hart v. Walker, 720 F.2d 1436, 1439 (5th Cir.1983))).

¶ 12. Morgan contends that the trial court erred in granting a directed verdict because she was locked up against her will, and the determination of whether her detainment was a reasonable one should have been a question of fact for the jury. This Court finds that such an argument lacks merit. Morgan consented to the treatment at the Hospital, and such treatment includes placing patients who are out of control in a secure environment for the protection of both the patient and the others at the Hospital.

¶ 13. The evidence indicates that prior to the 1996 incident in question, Morgan had undergone a psychological evaluation that concluded she was suffering from personality disorders. She had a history of mental illness dating back to 1990 and was diagnosed as having been severely depressed upon her admittance to the Hospital in June of 1996. She also suffered from hallucinations and crying episodes. Moreover, on the morning of the alleged incident, Morgan's doctor noted in the medical records that she was experiencing trances that lasted up to fifteen minutes.

¶ 14. Morgan argues that the mere fact that she was undergoing treatment in a Hospital does not mean that the Hospital is justified in performing any medical procedures it deems warranted. Although such...