Dragomir v. Spring Harbor Hospital

2009 ME 51, 970 A.2d 310, 2009 Me. LEXIS 57
CourtSupreme Judicial Court of Maine
DecidedMay 14, 2009
DocketDocket: Cum-07-741
StatusPublished
Cited by60 cases

This text of 2009 ME 51 (Dragomir v. Spring Harbor Hospital) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Judicial Court of Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dragomir v. Spring Harbor Hospital, 2009 ME 51, 970 A.2d 310, 2009 Me. LEXIS 57 (Me. 2009).

Opinions

SILVER, J.

[¶ 1] Paul Dragomir appeals from two orders entered in the Superior Court (Cumberland County, Cole, J.) in favor of Spring Harbor Hospital. In one order, the court granted Spring Harbor’s motion for partial summary judgment on Dragomir’s claim of vicarious liability. In the second order, the court granted Spring [312]*312Harbor’s motion to dismiss Dragomir’s claims of negligent hiring and negligent supervision. Both claims arose out of the relationship that Dragomir had with Eric Richardson, a social worker employed by Spring Harbor who treated Dragomir. Dragomir does not appeal the judgment against him on his claim of negligent hiring.1 We affirm the Superior Court’s order as to vicarious liability, and we vacate its order as to negligent supervision.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURE

[¶ 2] The following facts were appropriately before the Superior Court, and we view them in the light most favorable to Dragomir. See Raisin Mem’l Trust v. Casey, 2008 ME 63, ¶ 12, 945 A.2d 1211, 1214; Plimpton v. Gerrard, 668 A.2d 882, 885 (Me.1995). In April 2000, Paul Dra-gomir was admitted to Spring Harbor for treatment of a mental illness and drug and alcohol abuse. Eric Richardson was employed at Spring Harbor as a social worker. Richardson ran the intensive outpatient program at Spring Harbor and, beginning in April 2000, he provided therapy to Dragomir — first as an inpatient and then as an outpatient. As an outpatient, Dragomir saw Richardson for therapy approximately once per week until treatment terminated in January 2001.

[¶ 3] In May 2000, Dragomir and Richardson began a sexual relationship, which lasted until July 2001. During this time, Richardson supplied Dragomir with illegal drugs and alcohol and encouraged Drago-mir on one occasion to drive a motor vehicle while consuming alcohol. All social and sexual encounters between Dragomir and Richardson occurred off hospital premises in Richardson’s home or elsewhere, with the exception of one very brief sexual act in Richardson’s office.

[¶ 4] Dragomir and Richardson went to great lengths to keep their relationship secret because they knew that Richardson would immediately lose his job if they were discovered. For example, on at least one occasion, Richardson urged Dragomir to keep driving so as to avoid being seen by someone Richardson knew. Richardson also told Dragomir that he would lose his clinical social work license and that his career would “go down the drain” if anyone learned of their relationship. In July 2001, Dragomir informed Spring Harbor officials of his relationship with Richardson. When Spring Harbor confronted Richardson with this information, Richardson resigned. He eventually pleaded guilty to gross sexual assault with a mental health patient in the course of treatment (Class C), 17-A M.R.S. § 253(2)(I) (2008), and was incarcerated.

[¶ 5] Prior to being hired by Spring Harbor, Richardson had been investigated for theft and using patient records to file false insurance claims. He subsequently signed a consent agreement with the State Board of Social Worker Licensing and the Attorney General, in which he admitted these charges. Dragomir claims that the hospital knew of these charges when it hired Richardson, or that it would have known about them if it had adequately explored Richardson’s background, including his state licensure records.

[¶ 6] On September 27, 2002, pursuant to the Maine Health Security Act, see 24 [313]*313M.R.S. § 2853 (2008), Dragomir filed a notice of claim against Richardson and Spring Harbor. He alleged the following: Richardson was an agent, servant, or employee of Spring Harbor; Richardson’s treatment of Dragomir and Spring Harbor’s supervision of Richardson constituted shocking deviations from the applicable standard of care; Spring Harbor did not explore satisfactorily Richardson’s background prior to hiring him; Spring Harbor’s staff did not read one another’s notes, which was indicative of unacceptably poor training and supervision; Spring Harbor did not recognize that Dragomir’s substance abuse issues were so pivotal to the success or failure of his treatment; Spring Harbor did not notice or inquire into the inconsistencies in Dragomir’s daily check-ins, which would have pointed to the destructive relationship initiated and nurtured by Richardson; and that timely and thoughtful investigation into Dragomir’s rapidly increasing drug abuse would have revealed the abuse perpetrated by Richardson on Dragomir and would have terminated the unhealthy relationship between Richardson and Dragomir much earlier.

[¶ 7] We next address the procedural history of this case with respect to Spring Harbor only. Dragomir’s case against Richardson has been stayed pending this appeal. Spring Harbor filed a motion for partial summary judgment on the issue of vicarious liability. In its order on the motion, the court noted that Maine applies a traditional test, pursuant to Restatement (Second) of Agency § 228 (1958), for deciding whether employee conduct falls within the scope of employment for purposes of determining whether the employer is vicariously liable for the actions of the employee, and it found that Dragomir did not satisfy the necessary criteria. The court therefore granted Spring Harbor’s motion. Dragomir appealed the court’s decision to us, and on October 13, 2004, we dismissed it as interlocutory.

[¶ 8] Spring Harbor subsequently filed a motion to dismiss Dragomir’s claims for the negligent hiring and negligent supervision of Richardson, and the Superior Court granted the motion. In its order, the Superior Court noted that, in Maine, if a plaintiff asserts facts with sufficient particularity such that a “special relationship” between plaintiff and defendant is established, an action for negligent supervision may be maintained. However, the court found that Dragomir had not asserted facts with sufficient particularity to establish a special relationship.

[¶ 9] On December 7, 2007, Dragomir filed an unopposed motion for entry of final judgment as to Spring Harbor, and he requested that the proceedings against Richardson be stayed pending this appeal. The Superior Court granted Dragomir’s motion to stay his claims against Richardson and, pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 54(b), entered final judgment on all claims in favor of Spring Harbor. This appeal followed.

II. DISCUSSION

[¶ 10] We now review the Superior Court’s orders regarding Dragomir’s claims against Spring Harbor for vicarious liability and negligent supervision.

A. Vicarious Liability

[¶ 11] “We review a grant of summary judgment de novo, considering the evidence in the light most favorable to the party against whom judgment has been granted to decide whether the parties’ statements of material facts and the referenced record material reveal a genuine issue of material fact.” Raisin Mem’l Trust v. Casey, 2008 ME 63, ¶ 12, 945 A.2d 1211, 1214 (quotation marks omitted).

[314]*314[¶ 12] “Maine applies the Restatement (Second) of Agency to determine the limits of imposing vicarious liability on an employer.” Mahar v. StoneWood Transp., 2003 ME 63, ¶ 13, 823 A.2d 540, 544. Specifically, an employer may be liable for the actions of its employee if the actions were taken in the “scope of employment.” Id. The Restatement (Second) of Agency § 228 provides:

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Bluebook (online)
2009 ME 51, 970 A.2d 310, 2009 Me. LEXIS 57, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dragomir-v-spring-harbor-hospital-me-2009.