| Venue: | NY Ct. App. |
| Facts: | A kid dies of a brain aneurism. A preliminary report indicates that it's homicide by blunt trauma, and the dad becomes the prime suspect. Later, the ME determines that it was natural causes, but fails to correct the report, so the investigation continues for years. The dad has suffered quite a bit in the meantime. |
| Posture: | All sorts of claims dismissed at trial, but the Appellate Division reinstates negligent infliction of emotional distress. |
| Issue: | Can a member of the public recover from a municipality for its employee's negligence? |
| Holding: | No. The Appellate Division is reversed, and the claim dismissed. |
| Rule: | Discretionary acts (exercise of authority vested in the public official) are not a source of liability. Ministerial acts (acts required in accordance with a governing rule) may, but not necessarily: that a wrong is ministerial merely removes immunity. |
| Reasoning: | To recover damages, there must be a duty. And that duty must be to a specific person, not to society at large. There was a statutory violation here, but the intent of the statute was for the protection of society at large, not this plaintiff. No civil liability to an individual arises if a government agent is merely neglectul in carrying out actions on behalf of society in general. |
| Dicta: | Dissent: to immunize an employee who is the sole possessor of knowledge and power to fix a problem incents people to keep this stuff secret. |