Venue: |
NY Ct. App.
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Facts: |
Baby Kawana is abducted from the hospital, and is missing for 4.5
months. The hospital had been distracted by a couple of bomb
threats. |
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Posture: |
Summary judgment for defendants denied at trial. The denial is
affirmed on appeal, but the vote is divided, and they send
it on to the Court of Appeals. |
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Issue: |
Is summary judgment appropriate? (or maybe dismissal?) |
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Holding: |
Yes. There's no cause of action here. Reversed. Dismissed. |
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Rule: |
The hospital may have been negligent, but they're not liable to
the parents here. |
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Reasoning: |
Rights exist correlative with duties. Just because you have
suffered doesn't mean that someone else owes you a duty.
We'd have lawsuits galore if we allowed parents to sue
every time they got scared about their kids. |
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Dicta: |
Dissent: don't we vindicate wrongs even if there will be a flood
of litigation? don't we compensate for psychological harm? |
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