Opinion ID: 1281541
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Cause of Action for Negligent Failure to Prevent Suicide

Text: As stated above, the Court of Appeal characterized the first two counts of plaintiffs' complaint (for clergyman malpractice and negligence) as together stating a cause of action for the negligent failure [by a nontherapist counselor] to prevent suicide. Conceding that research [did] not uncover any court decision which has ruled one way or the other specifically on the existence or scope of a nontherapist counselor's duty toward suicidal counselees, and that it was venturing along a largely uncharted path, the Court of Appeal imposed a new and broad duty of care on such counselors without any discussion of causation under the present facts. As Justice Cole pointed out in his dissent, however, the obligation imposed by the majority is loosely phrased. Indeed, the Court of Appeal used widely varying terminology in describing the duty of care arising under the first two causes of action. At different points in its opinion, the Court of Appeal referred to the duty imposed on nontherapist counselors as a duty to refer counselees to those who possess ... powers to prevent an imminent suicide; to refer ... to those individuals or institutions authorized and specially suited to prevent suicide; to take steps to place [a suicidal person] in the hands of those to whom society has given the authority and who by education and experience are in the best position to prevent the suicidal individual from succeeding in killing himself; informing those in a position to prevent the counselee's suicide about the factors suggesting the counselee's imminent plans to kill himself; to insure their counselees also are under the care of psychotherapists, psychiatric facilities, or others authorized and equipped to forestall imminent suicide; and finally, to take appropriate measures to prevent [a] suicide. (3a) As we explain below, we reject the Court of Appeal's imposition of a broad duty to refer on defendants and nontherapist counselors in general.