Sanzi v. Shetty

Decision Date12 June 2002
Docket NumberPC 2000-4523
PartiesGEORGE F. SANZI AND JOAN SANZI, Individually and as Co-Administrators of the ESTATE OF REBECCA CALDERONE, and DENNIS CALDERONE, as Natural Parent and Next Friend of RYAN T. CALDERONE, a minor, and JOSEPH G. CALDERONE, a minor v. TARANATH M. SHETTY, M.D. and TARANATH M. SHETTY, M.D., INC.
CourtRhode Island Superior Court

GEORGE F. SANZI AND JOAN SANZI, Individually and as Co-Administrators of the ESTATE OF REBECCA CALDERONE, and DENNIS CALDERONE, as Natural Parent and Next Friend of RYAN T. CALDERONE, a minor, and JOSEPH G. CALDERONE, a minor
v.
TARANATH M. SHETTY, M.D. and TARANATH M. SHETTY, M.D., INC.

No. PC 2000-4523

Superior Court of Rhode Island

June 12, 2002


DECISION

SAVAGE, J.

This action arises out of the death by suicide of Rebecca Calderone in December 1999 that plaintiffs claim was proximately caused by the years of sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated upon her by her pediatric neurologist, defendant Dr. Taranath M. Shetty. The defendants, Dr. Taranath M. Shetty and Taranath M. Shetty, M.D., Inc., have filed a motion for summary judgment that asks this Court to decide an issue of first impression in Rhode Island: namely, whether an action for wrongful death brought by a decedent's estate and heirs against the defendants under the Rhode Island Wrongful Death Act, R. I. Gen. Laws §§10-7-1 et seq., is barred as a matter of law if the decedent's action against the defendants would have been time barred as of the date of her death. The motion also seeks, on statute of limitation grounds, to dismiss the claims of Rebecca Calderone's parents against the defendants for fraudulent concealment of the alleged assaults and fraudulent misrepresentation with regard to their daughter's treatment.

For the reasons set forth in this decision, this Court holds that neither the plaintiffs' claims under the Rhode Island Wrongful Death Act (counts I, II and V of the complaint) nor their fraud claims (count IV of the complaint) are barred by the applicable statutes of limitation. Accordingly, this Court denies the defendants' motion for summary judgment as to all pending counts of plaintiffs' complaint. [1]

Facts and Procedural History

As all parties acknowledge, the defendants' motion for summary judgment raises legal, rather than factual, questions. The defendants thus implicitly accept, for present purposes, plaintiffs' recitation of the facts as contained in their complaint and the discovery attached to their memorandum in support of their objection to defendants' motion for summary judgment. It is those allegations, therefore, when viewed in a light most favorable to plaintiffs, as the non- moving parties, that will frame this Court's consideration of the legal issues raised by defendants' summary judgment motion.

The plaintiffs consist of Rebecca Calderone's parents, George and Joan Sanzi, who have brought suit individually and as co-administrators on behalf of the estate of Rebecca Calderone, as well as the decedent's ex-husband, Dennis Calderone, who has brought suit on behalf of her children, Ryan and Joseph Calderone. Plaintiffs allege that Dr. Taranath Shetty, while serving as Rebecca Calderone's pediatric neurologist, sexually assaulted and battered her during office visits from about March of 1979, when she was fourteen years old, until about March of 1987, when she was twenty-two years old. Plaintiffs George and Joan Sanzi further allege that upon Dr. Shetty's recommendation, they allowed their daughter to work in his office on Saturdays from approximately March 1979 until March 1981, on which days Dr. Shetty further sexually abused her.

In 1986, Rebecca Calderone married Dennis Calderone and later gave birth to twin boys (Ryan T. Calderone and Joseph G. Calderone). During their marriage, Rebecca Calderone disclosed to her husband that she was sexually abused by Dr. Shetty. In February of 1988, Rebecca Calderone began outpatient therapy with Kevin Dealy, a licensed social worker. In March of 1988, she disclosed to Mr. Dealy that an "employer" had sexually abused her as a teenager. Later that same year, Rebecca Calderone was admitted to Butler Hospital where she disclosed that her neurologist had sexually abused her when she was fourteen years old. Also in 1988, Rebecca Calderone separated from her husband. Beginning in November of 1992 and continuing until 1996, Rebecca Calderone treated with Lynn Pasquale, another licensed social worker. During her treatment, she disclosed the alleged sexual abuse.

On February 7, 1996, the Sanzis accompanied their daughter to see an attorney. The Sanzis contend that it was at this meeting that they first became aware of Dr. Shetty's alleged abuse of their daughter. In 1999, Rebecca Calderone was admitted to Butler Hospital on three separate occasions for suicidal tendencies. Tragically, however, on December 21, 1999, Rebecca Calderone committed suicide. Eight months later, on August 24, 2000, plaintiffs filed their complaint against the defendants alleging that it was as a direct and proximate result of Dr. Shetty's sexual abuse of her that Rebecca Calderone took her own life.

In count I of the complaint, plaintiffs assert causes of action against defendant Dr. Shetty under the Rhode Island Wrongful Death Act, R. I. Gen. Laws §§10-7-1 et. seq., for tortious battery. Specifically, plaintiffs George and Joan Sanzi, as co-administrators of their daughter's estate, seek pecuniary damages on behalf of the statutory beneficiaries of Rebecca Calderone, pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws § 10-7-1.1, as well as damages for pain and suffering on behalf of the estate, pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws § 10-7-7. Also in count I, Rebecca Calderone's children, Ryan and Joseph Calderone, through their father, Dennis Calderone, seek damages under the Rhode Island Wrongful Death Act for the loss of their mother's consortium, pursuant to R. I. Gen. Laws § 10-7-1.2(b).

In count II of the complaint, plaintiffs assert causes of action against defendant Dr. Shetty under the Rhode Island Wrongful Death Act for the intentional infliction of emotional distress upon the decedent, Rebecca Calderone. In this count, they seek to recover the same kinds of damages under the same provisions of the Rhode Island Wrongful Death Act as asserted in count I.

As noted previously with respect to count III of the complaint, the parties have stipulated that the individual claims of plaintiffs George and Joan Sanzi for intentional infliction of emotional distress may be dismissed with prejudice. There are no allegations in that count, therefore, that are relevant to this Court's consideration of defendants' motion for summary judgment.

In count IV of the complaint, plaintiffs George and Joan Sanzi, in their individual capacities, allege that defendant Dr. Shetty fraudulently induced them to allow their the n minor-aged daughter to work with him so that he could sexually assault her and that he fraudulently concealed his alleged sexual assaults of her by telling them that her behavioral changes were due to a neurological disorder and/or her medication. They seek to recover compensatory damages for the economic harm and emotional distress they claim they sustained as a proximate result of the defendant's misconduct. They also seek to recover punitive damages.

Finally, in count V of the complaint, plaintiffs assert causes of action against defendant Taranath M. Shetty, M.D., Inc. under a theory of respondeat superior. They allege that the corporate defendant, as employer of defendant Dr. Shetty, is liable for all of the tortious misconduct of Dr. Shetty and damages alleged in the prior counts of their complaint that they claim took place in the course of his employment.

The defendants filed a motion for summary judgment as to all counts of the complaint, accompanied by a supporting memorandum. The third-party defendant, Medical Malpractice Joint Underwriting Association of Rhode Island, joined in the defendant's motion and also filed a memorandum in support of its position. Since the filing of the third-party defendant's memorandum, this Court has had occasion to grant the third-party defendant's motion for summary judgment. Plaintiffs filed an objection to the defendants' motion for summary judgment and likewise filed a supporting memorandum. After consideration of the extensive memoranda, exhibits and legal authorities filed by the parties, the parties' oral arguments and this Court's independent legal research, the pending motion is ripe for decision. The parties have agreed that the trial of this matter will be deferred pending this decision but will follow swiftly thereafter should the defendants' motion be denied.

Summary Judgment Standard

Our Supreme Court has warned repeatedly "that summary judgment is a drastic remedy that should be cautiously applied." Maggiacomo v. Stanley, 771 A.2d 896, 89 8 (R.I. 2001). Nevertheless, summary judgment "shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as matter of law." R. I. Super. Ct. R. Civ. P. 56(c).

Plaintiffs' Claims under the Rhode Island Wrongful Death Act

The defendants contend that the claims asserted by plaintiffs under the Rhode Island Wrongful Death Act, R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 10-7-1 et seq. (counts I, II, and V of the complaint), are time barred since all personal causes of action that Rebecca Calderone could have asserted against the defendants were themselves time barred on the date of her death. The defendants argue that even assuming that the latest date of alleged "discovery of injury" is used to trigger the running of the statute of limitation as to the decedent's claims against the defendants (i.e., November of 1992 when Rebecca Calderone began seeing the social worker, Lynn Pasquale, to whom she ultimately made disclosure of the alleged abuse), and even further assuming that the longer seven year statute of limitation under R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-51 applies (i.e., the statute of limitation applicable to actions for the sexual abuse or exploitation of a child), as of November 1999 (some eight months before the filing of a...

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