Doe v. Westlake Academy

12 Mass. L. Rptr. 353
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedNovember 21, 2000
DocketNo. CA972187
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 12 Mass. L. Rptr. 353 (Doe v. Westlake Academy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Doe v. Westlake Academy, 12 Mass. L. Rptr. 353 (Mass. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

Welch, J.

Introduction

The defendants have moved for summary judgment on certain counts of the second amended complaint. The plaintiff, relying on her extensive discovery and attaching numerous exhibits, vigorously argues against the grant of any summary judgment. For the reason set forth below this motion is denied in part and allowed in part.

Background Summary

This case presents extremely troubling allegations. The plaintiff, denominated Jane Doe for purposes of privacy, was civilly committed to the defendant Westlake Academy. Westlake Academy, which is owned by defendant Health and Education Services, Inc., is a secure intensive residential treatment program for mentally ill adolescents operated by Health and Education Services, Inc. by contract with the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. Health and Education Services, Inc. operated under a master agreement with the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health to provide “residential, clinical and psychiatric services to youths in a secure setting. Teenagers admitted to the program are committed under civil commitment laws for psychiatric treatment. All clients entering the program are screened and assigned to the program by a centralized DMH process.” See contract summary of contract between DMH and Health and Education Services, Inc. (Exhibit I to plaintiffs opposition). Health and Education Services, Inc. is a private non-profit company which provides a service that the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health previously had provided through state mental hospitals. Pursuant to its contract with Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, defendant Health and Education Services, Inc. is required to operate under the same rules and regulations applicable to the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. Defendant Health and Education Services, Inc. admits, in answers to interrogatories, that it operated the facility at Westlake for the.Massachusetts Department of Mental Health until 1995. All of the funding of Health and Education Services, Inc. is provided by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Massachusetts regulations provide that the intensive residential treatment program for mentally ill adolescents, that is the treatment program to which the plaintiff was civilly committed at Westlake, provides that such programs as that at Westlake are “designated as facilities under the control of Massachusetts Department of Mental Health.” Code of Massachusetts Regulations title 104 chapter 2.14(4a). The Massachusetts regulations which apply to such intensive resi[354]*354dential treatment programs as Westlake Academy govern the eligibility for such programs. 104 CMR §2.14(7). The regulations also dictate the client population, the admissions criteria, the length of stay, the bed capacity, the location and staffing of each such intensive residential treatment programs.

According to the plaintiffs allegations, plaintiff Jane Doe was a ward of the State of Maine. She attended the Westlake program for approximately 21 months. She was considered “a mentally ill adolescent.” This is defined in 104 CMR 2.14 as “an adolescent (she was 17 years old at the time) whose mental illness is characterized by a substantial disorder of thought, mood, perception, orientation, or memory which grossly impairs judgment, behavior, capacity to recognize reality or ability to met the ordinary demands of life, but shall not include alcoholism.” Jane Doe’s mental illness apparently resulted from years of severe sexual and physical abuse. Many of the female adolescent residents at the Westlake program have had a history of sexual abuse victimization. Plaintiff Jane Doe exhibited her mental problems by behaving in sexually provocative ways. This was well recognized by the staff and supervisors of the Westlake program. One of the reasons for plaintiff Jane Doe’s confinement to a locked facility was her inability to behave in an appropriate and safe nonsexual manner. The goal of her treatment program was for her to learn to behave in a more appropriate manner. A month prior to being transferred to less secure facility in Maine, plaintiff Doe was allowed to leave the locked facility for weekend visits home to Maine. She was allowed to leave only with an escort from the program. It was decided by supervisors at the Westlake program that staff member (and defendant) Jeffrey Senechal, alone would transport Jane Doe from Westlake in Gardner, Massachusetts to the bus station in Boston for her visits. This was done despite there being in-house regulations (due to an earlier incident of sexual misconduct between a staff member and a female client) that a male staffer alone would not transport a female client. Indeed, this arrangement was made even though supervisors had been informed by Senechal that plaintiff Jane Doe was behaving in a sexually provocative way with him. Defendant Senechal did transport the plaintiff on various occasions and failed to comply with various reporting requirements regarding his location and sign-out or sign-in policies. Jane Doe alleges that defendant Jeffrey Senechal had sexual relations with her on several occasions during these transports. Following the plaintiffs transfer to a childrens home in Maine it was discovered that plaintiff Doe was pregnant. The plaintiff maintains that Jeffrey Senechal is the childs father. Despite an order by this court (which has been unsuccessfully appealed all the way to the United States Supreme Court) Senechal still refuses to submit a DNA sample. The child was born and subsequently adopted by a third party.

As a result of her pregnancy, and her decision to give up the child, the plaintiff has suffered further psychiatric problems according to the complaint. These allegations are buttressed by various psychological reports provided in opposition to the motion for summary judgment. One such report details the plaintiffs hospitalization resulting from depression suffered by the plaintiff as a result of her pregnancy, the adoption and her realization that she had been sexually used by her former counselor defendant Senechal.

The complaint also alleges that Westlake and Health and Education Services, Inc. failed to adequately investigate Senechal’s background before hiring him, failed to adequately train or supervisor him. Again, the plaintiff presents various pieces of evidence obtained during discovery supporting these allegation.

Discussion

Certain of the counts are not supported by any evidence despite the plaintiffs extensive discovery in these matters. Thus, summary judgment on these matters is appropriate. For example Count I alleges that the sexual abuse took place on the property which was owned or controlled by Westlake Academy. That' count alleges negligent security in the maintenance and control of the premises. All parties agree that the alleged sexual abuse did not occur on the Westlake premises and that there is no evidence of negligence security “in the maintenance and control of the premises.” Therefore, summary judgment is allowed but without prejudice to the plaintiff to amend her negligent security claim should the plaintiff allege negligent security beyond the confines of the premises.

Likewise, Count XV alleges negligence against defendant Jeffrey Senechal. This negligence allegedly result when Senechal “sexually abused the plaintiff, Jane Doe resulting in her becoming pregnant.” There is no evidence that the sexual intercourse was in any way accomplished by a negligent act. Instead, the evidence established to date is that Jeffrey Senechal allegedly intended to have sexual relations with a client of the Westlake Academy.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
12 Mass. L. Rptr. 353, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/doe-v-westlake-academy-masssuperct-2000.