MINNEAPOLIS (Legal Newsline) - The mental health care providers of a man who killed his family won't be liable for their deaths, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled.
In a case closely watched by gun violence groups and the state's plaintiffs and defense lawyer organizations, the court ruled for Park Nicollet Health Services on Sept. 7. It was asked to determine whether Park Nicollet owed a duty to protect those whom Brian Short murdered with a shotgun.
Short received outpatient treatment for anxiety and depression there for three months, then bought a shotgun and killed his wife, his three children and himself.
The opinion does say claims over the wrongful death of Brian can proceed, but Park Nicollet's duty to protect did not exist to family members not involved in his treatment when nothing indicated Brian would commit a murder-suicide.
He had specifically denied suicidal/homicidal ideations or plans, though he had expressed suicidal thoughts.
"To hold that Brian’s familicide was foreseeable—with no prior violent threats, no prior violent acts, no reported violent ideation of any kind, and consistently positive references to his family’s support—is not supported by this record. We hold that Brian’s familicide was unforeseeable as a matter of law," the opinion says.
"We therefore need not—and do not—address whether Park Nicollet’s actions meet any of the remaining elements necessary to establish the existence of a legal duty."
Holding mental health care providers liable for actions like Short's would open the industry to liability that could cause them to refuse to treat patients, the opinion says.