Villanueva v. Board of Psychologist Examiners

27 P.3d 1100, 175 Or. App. 345, 2001 Ore. App. LEXIS 1043
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJuly 11, 2001
Docket97-09; A108093
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 27 P.3d 1100 (Villanueva v. Board of Psychologist Examiners) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Villanueva v. Board of Psychologist Examiners, 27 P.3d 1100, 175 Or. App. 345, 2001 Ore. App. LEXIS 1043 (Or. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

KISTLER, J.

The Board of Psychologist Examiners reprimanded petitioner and fined him $1,000 for treating a minor child without the custodial parent’s consent. The Board concluded that petitioner’s conduct violated the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Ethical Principle 4.Q2.1 On review, petitioner argues that the Board’s notice of proposed disciplinary action failed to comply with ORS 183.415(2)(c) because it did not allege that he had violated Principle 4.02 but instead alleged that he had violated six other ethical principles. Petitioner also argues that the Board’s interpretation of Principle 4.02, which essentially imposed a strict liability standard on psychologists, was so unforeseeable as to render the rule unconstitutionally vague. We agree with petitioner’s first argument and reverse.

Petitioner is a clinical psychologist in Medford. This case arises out of his treatment of a nine-year-old patient (child) whose parents were divorced. Under the terms of the dissolution judgment, mother was awarded custody of child, subject to father’s visitation rights. In 1995, mother and child moved to California, and child periodically returned to Oregon to visit father. Later that year, a psychologist in California diagnosed child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and child began taking Ritalin. After learning of the diagnosis, father sought to obtain a second opinion while child was in Oregon. He took child to a neurologist, Dr. Michael Narus, who referred father and child to petitioner.

Father explained to petitioner that he and mother were divorced and that mother had legal custody of child. Father also said that the dissolution judgment gave him authority to participate in decisions regarding child’s medical [348]*348care and that, in any event, mother was aware of the examination and approved of it.

Petitioner proceeded with the examination, after which he sent a written report to Narus detailing his observations and opinions. In the report, petitioner stated that mother “approves of this exam” and that “father has retained rights to participate in medical decision making.” Petitioner also noted child’s mental health history, stating that child had a history of trauma, suffered seizures at birth, and that “[t]here is a history of affective disturbance (maternal).” Petitioner tested child for learning disabilities and determined that “[child] does have a significant learning problem and is behind his age peers, despite better than average intellect.” Petitioner observed that child appeared somewhat immature and fidgety for child’s age. The report concluded with petitioner’s “impression” that child suffered from verbal learning disabilities and from attention deficit disorder and that medication was “not unreasonable.” The record indicates that petitioner’s professional relationship with father and child ended after the evaluation.

Over one year later, father sought to obtain custody of child and had petitioner subpoenaed to testify at the hearing, presumably in an effort to use the contents of petitioner’s report as evidence that child’s interests would be better served if father were awarded custody. After the hearing and after learning of the contents of petitioner’s report, mother wrote to petitioner complaining about his examination of child. Mother also filed a complaint against petitioner with the Board, which included a copy of her letter to petitioner. Mother’s complaint was based largely on what she perceived to be false statements or inaccuracies in the report. In particular, she claimed that the statement, “[mother] approves of this exam,” was false and stated that she never would have approved of the testing because child had already undergone testing in California. She also took issue with petitioner’s statement regarding a history of “affective disturbance,” demanding a “full explanation of what you mean by that statement and what professional source you gleaned that information from.” Mother concluded, “[Petitioner’s] files on my son are a permanent part of his life and at this time they have serious misinformation in them.”

[349]*349The Board sent petitioner a letter dated July 11, 1997, in which the Board notified petitioner of mother’s complaint. Attached to the letter was a “Summary of Allegations,” which was accompanied by a list of ethical principles that petitioner may have violated if mother’s allegations were proven true. The first allegation was that petitioner erroneously stated that mother approved of the exam; according to the Board, “such an allegation may represent a violation of Ethical Principle 1.21(a).”2 The second allegation was that the report incorrectly recited that “[t]here is a history of affective disturbance (maternal)” because there was “no affective disturbance on [mother’s] side of the family.” The letter stated that such a misstatement would violate Principles 1.06,1.14, 2.01(b), and 7.02(b).3 Finally, the Board noted that, in mother’s opinion, petitioner “ha[s] been remiss in [his] professional responsibility in that [he] did not respond to her telephone calls or [to] a certified letter sent to [him],” which may have constituted a violation of Principle 7.06.4

On March 31,1998, the Board sent petitioner a Proposed Notice of Disciplinary Action, in which the Board “propose[d] to take disciplinary action against the license to practice as a psychologist of [petitioner] for violations of the December 1992 Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct.” The Board’s notice set out the following allegations:

“1.1 [Mother] is the full custodial parent of [child], a nine year-old boy, who was referred to [petitioner] for a psychological evaluation at the request of [child’s] father. It is alleged that [mother] never consented to this evaluation [350]*350and had no advance knowledge of it, nor would she have given consent since her son had recently been evaluated twice the previous October.
“1.2 [Petitioner’s] evaluation of [child] dated January 9, 1996, states ‘[tjhere is a history of affective disturbance (maternal)’. [Mother] reports there is no affective disturbance on her side of the family and she strongly objects to inclusion of such a statement without verification, and most appropriately, through interview with her.
“1.3 It is alleged that [petitioner] has been remiss in his professional responsibility in that [petitioner] did not respond to telephone calls made to [petitioner] by [mother] in April of 1997, and that [petitioner] did not respond to a certified letter sent to [petitioner] by [mother] in March 1997.
«:jc * * 'Jfi
“The Board alleges that the acts and conduct of [petitioner] * * * constitutes [sic] violations of Ethical Principles 1.21(a); 1.06; 1.14; 2.01(b); 7.02(b) and 7.06. Therefore, the Board proposes to:
“2.1 Issue a Letter of Reprimand and assess a civil penalty of $1,000 against [petitioner].”

On April 20, 1998, petitioner filed an answer, arguing that none of the Ethical Principles cited by the Board-Principles 1.21(a), 1.06, 1.14, 2.01(b), 7.02(b), and 7.06— applied to the facts of the case and demanded a hearing. Petitioner also explained:

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Bill Babeckos Trust v. Dept. of State Lands
Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2026
N.W. Natural Gas Co. v. Environ. Quality Comm.
Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2023
OR-OSHA v. Loy Clark Pipeline, Co.
514 P.3d 544 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2022)
Ceaser v. Dept. of Human Services
493 P.3d 66 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2021)
Sachdev v. Or. Med. Bd.
426 P.3d 118 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2018)
Murphy v. Oregon Medical Board
348 P.3d 1173 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2015)
Pila‘a 400, LLC v. Board of Land and Natural Resources.
320 P.3d 912 (Hawaii Supreme Court, 2014)
Drayton v. Department of Transportation
62 P.3d 430 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2003)
State v. Potter
57 P.3d 944 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2002)
Villanueva v. Board of Psychologist Examiners
39 P.3d 238 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2002)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
27 P.3d 1100, 175 Or. App. 345, 2001 Ore. App. LEXIS 1043, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/villanueva-v-board-of-psychologist-examiners-orctapp-2001.