Nally v. Grace Community Church

• Decision Date: 23 November 1988
• Docket Number: No. S002882,S002882
• Citation: 253 Cal.Rptr. 97,47 Cal.3d 278,763 P.2d 948
• Court: California Supreme Court
• Parties: , 763 P.2d 948, 57 USLW 2341 Walter J. NALLY et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. GRACE COMMUNITY CHURCH OF THE VALLEY et al., Defendants and Respondents

Page 97

253 Cal.Rptr. 97

47 Cal.3d 278, 763 P.2d 948, 57 USLW 2341

Walter J. NALLY et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. GRACE COMMUNITY CHURCH OF THE VALLEY et al., Defendants and Respondents.

No. S002882.

Supreme Court of California

Nov. 23, 1988.

[763 P.2d 949] Edward Barker, Los Angeles, and Allen P. Wilkinson, Rancho LaCosta, for plaintiffs and appellants

Michael Norman Saleman, Los Angeles, as amicus curiae on behalf of plaintiffs and appellants.

Cooksey, Howard, Martin & Tolen, Cooksey, Coleman & Howard, David R. Cooksey, Jon A. Hammerbeck, Santa Ana, Samuel E. Ericsson, Springfield, Va., Michael Stokes Paulsen, Rex E. Lee, Gene C. Schaerr and Sidley & Austin, Los Angeles, for defendants and respondents.

Robert R. Thompson, Burlingame, Gerald R. Thompson, Richard A. Moore, Woodland Hills, David L. Llewellyn, Jr., Torrance, Caldwell & Toms, Robert L. Toms, Dennis R. Kasper, Edward McGlynn Gaffney, Jr., Los Angeles, Douglas Laycock, Austin, Tex., Wendell R. Bird, Atlanta, Ga., Fry, Joens & Fry, Timothy L. Joens, Ronald B. Pierce, Irvine, Sarah Barringer Gordon, Fine, Kaplan & Black, Philadelphia, Pa., Ronald A. Zumbrun, Anthony T. Caso, Timothy A. Bittle, Sacramento, Wilford W Peter M. Shannon, Jr., Erin B. Isaacson and Keck, Mahin & Cate, Chicago, Ill., as amici curiae.

Kirton, Jr., Oscar W. McConkie, Jr., Kirton, McConkie & Bushnell, Salt Lake City, Utah, Charles S. Vogel, Lori H. Dillman and Dennis A. Ragen, Los Angeles, as amici curiae on behalf of defendants and respondents.

LUCAS, Chief Justice.

I. INTRODUCTION

On April 1, 1979, 24-year-old Kenneth Nally (hereafter Nally) committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with a shotgun. His parents (hereafter plaintiffs) filed a wrongful death action against Grace Community Church of the Valley (hereafter Church), a Protestant Christian congregation located in Sun Valley, California, and four Church pastors: MacArthur, Thomson, Cory and Rea (hereafter collectively referred to as defendants), alleging "clergyman malpractice," i.e., negligence and outrageous conduct in failing to prevent the suicide. (See Code Civ.Proc., § 377.) Nally, a member of the Church since 1974, had participated in defendants' pastoral counseling programs prior to his death.

This case was previously before us in 1984 after the Court of Appeal reversed summary judgment for defendants and remanded to the trial court (hereafter Nally I ). After we denied a hearing and depublished the Nally I Court of Appeal opinion, the matter was sent back to the trial court. At the close of plaintiffs' evidence at the trial on remand, the court granted defendants' motion for nonsuit on all counts on the basis of insufficiency of the evidence. ¹

The Court of Appeal again reversed and we granted review to address: (i) whether we should impose a duty on defendants and other "nontherapist counselors" (i.e., persons other than licensed psychotherapists, who counsel others concerning their emotional and spiritual problems) to refer persons to licensed mental health professionals once suicide becomes a foreseeable risk, and (ii) whether the evidence presented at trial supports plaintiffs' cause of action for wrongful death based on defendants' alleged "intentional infliction of emotional distress" on Nally.

II. FACTS

A. Background

In 1973, while attending University of California at Los Angeles (hereafter UCLA), Nally became depressed after breaking up with his girlfriend. He often talked about the absurdity of life, the problems he had with women and his family, and he occasionally mentioned suicide to his friends. Though Nally had been raised in a Roman Catholic household, he converted to Protestantism while he was a student at UCLA, and in 1974 he began attending the Church, the largest Protestant church in Los Angeles County. Nally's conversion became a source of controversy between him and his family. During this time, Nally developed a close friendship with defendant Pastor Cory, who was responsible for overseeing the ministry to the collegians attending the Church. On occasion, Nally discussed his problems with Cory, but the two never established a formal counseling relationship. Between 1974 and 1979, Nally was active in defendants' various Church programs and ministries.

Defendants offered pastoral counseling to church members in matters of faith, doctrine and the application of Christian principles. During 1979, defendant Church had approximately 30 counselors on its staff, serving a congregation of more than 10,000 persons. Defendants taught that the Bible is the fundamental Word of God containing truths that must govern Christians in their relationship with God and the In 1975, Nally was seeing a secular psychologist to discuss problems he was having with his girlfriend. After graduating from UCLA in 1976, he spent one semester at Biola College in La Mirada and was enrolled in the Talbot Theological Seminary's extension on defendants' church grounds. During this time, Nally became involved in a relationship with a girlfriend who was a fellow Bible student. In January 1978, he established a "discipling relationship" with Pastor Rea with whom he often discussed girlfriend and family problems. They met five times in early 1978, but when Nally lost interest in "discipling," the meetings were discontinued. ²

                world at large, and in their own personal lives.  Defendant Church had no professional or clinical counseling ministry, and its pastoral counseling was essentially religious in nature.  Such counseling was often received through instruction, study, prayer and guidance, and through mentoring relationships called "discipleships."   According to the trial testimony of defendant Senior Pastor MacArthur, "Grace Community Church does not have a professional or clinical counseling ministry.  We don't run a counseling center as such.  We aren't paid for that, and we don't solicit that.  We just respond as pastors, so what we do is on a spiritual level, and a biblical level, or a prayer level...."  In essence, defendants held themselves out as pastoral counselors able to deal with a variety of problems--not as professional, medical or psychiatric counselors
                

Following the breakup with his girlfriend in December 1978, Nally became increasingly despondent. Pastor Cory encouraged him to seek the counsel of either Pastor Thomson or Rea. The friendship with Cory and the five discipling sessions with Rea in early 1978, constituted the full extent of the "counseling" Nally received from defendants before the spring of 1979.

In February 1979, Nally told his mother he could not "cope." She arranged for him to see Dr. Milestone, a general practitioner, who prescribed Elavil, a strong anti-depressant drug, to relieve his depression. Milestone also recommended Nally undergo a series of blood and chemical tests. The record reveals that Milestone never referred Nally to a psychiatrist.

By late February, Nally's depression did not appear to be subsiding, and he was examined by Dr. Oda, a physician, who did not prescribe medication or refer Nally to a psychiatrist, but suggested he undergo a physical examination. Shortly thereafter, Nally spoke briefly in a drop-in counseling session with Pastor Thomson about the marital tensions between his parents and his problems with his current girlfriend. He told Thomson that he had considered suicide in 1974 while a student at UCLA. ³ The record shows that Thomson's conversation with Nally focused on their common faith in scripture. During this time, Nally "decided to serve the Lord through law," and was accepted at a Southern California law school for the 1979 fall semester.

B. The Events Preceding Nally's Suicide

On March 11, 1979, Nally took an overdose of the antidepressant prescribed by Dr. Milestone. Plaintiffs found him the following day and rushed him to a hospital. At the hospital, Dr. Evelyn, Nally's attending physician, advised plaintiffs that because their son "was actually suicidal," she could not authorize his release from the hospital until he had seen a psychiatrist. The record indicates that plaintiffs, concerned about their friends' reactions to their son's suicide attempt, asked Dr. Evelyn to inform other persons that Nally had On the afternoon of March 12, Pastors MacArthur and Rea visited Nally at the hospital. Nally, who was still drowsy from the drug overdose, separately told both pastors that he was sorry he did not succeed in committing suicide. Apparently, MacArthur and Rea assumed the entire hospital staff was aware of Nally's unstable mental condition, and they did not discuss Nally's death-wish comment with anyone else.

been hospitalized only for the aspiration pneumonia he suffered after the drug overdose rendered him unconscious.

Four days later, Dr. Hall, a staff psychiatrist at the hospital, examined Nally and recommended he commit himself to a psychiatric hospital. When both Nally and his father expressed reluctance at the thought of formal commitment, Hall agreed to release Nally for outpatient treatment, but warned Nally's father that it would not be unusual for a suicidal patient to repeat his suicide attempt. Nally was released from the hospital by Drs. Hall and Evelyn the next day.

On his release from the hospital on March 17, 1979, Nally arranged to stay with Pastor MacArthur, because he did not want to return home. MacArthur encouraged Nally to keep his appointments with Dr. Hall, and arranged for him to see Dr. John Parker, a physician and Church deacon, for a physical examination. Parker's testimony reveals that Nally told him he was depressed, had entertained thoughts of suicide, and had recently taken an overdose of Elavil. After examining Nally, Parker believed he was a continuing threat to himself, and recommended Nally commit himself to a psychiatric hospital. Nally, however, immediately rejected the advice.

Parker testified that after Nally left his office, he telephoned Glendale Adventist...