Summary
This Appellate Division decision affirms the denial of the County of Westchester's motion for summary judgment in a personal injury action alleging negligent supervision and selection of a foster parent under the Child Victims Act. The court held that by assuming legal custody of the plaintiff, the County owed a special duty beyond that owed to the public generally, eliminating the need to plead additional facts for a special relationship. Furthermore, the County failed to demonstrate as a matter of law that it lacked notice of the foster father's alleged abusive propensities. Consequently, the trial court properly denied summary judgment without reaching the sufficiency of the plaintiff's opposition papers.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether a municipal foster care agency owes a special duty to a foster child such that the child need not plead additional facts to establish a special relationship for negligence.
- Whether the County had notice of the foster father's propensity to commit sexual abuse sufficient to defeat summary judgment.
Holdings
- A municipality that has assumed legal custody of a foster child and selects and supervises the foster parents necessarily owes a duty to the child more than that owed to the public generally; the plaintiff need not plead additional facts to satisfy the special duty rule.
- The County failed to establish that it lacked notice of the foster father's alleged abusive propensities; therefore, summary judgment was properly denied.
Key quotations
“"[C]ounties and foster care agencies may be sued to recover damages for negligence in the selection of foster parents and in supervision of the foster home"” (*4)
“"By assuming custody of [the] plaintiff, and thus assuming the authority to control where and with whom [the] plaintiff lived, the County necessarily assumed a duty to [the plaintiff] beyond what is owed to the public generally"” (*4)
Factual background
Venetta Lewis, a former foster child, alleged that between 1977 and 1983 she was sexually abused by her foster father. The County of Westchester had legal custody of Lewis during her foster care and was alleged to have failed to prevent the abuse.
Procedural history
The trial court denied the County's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint alleging negligent failure to prevent sexual abuse of the plaintiff while in foster care. The County appealed the denial.