The Colorado Court of Appeals issued its opinion in McLaughlin v. Oxley on July 5, 2012.
Negligence—CRS § 13-21-117.5—Immunity.
Defendants Christopher Oxley, Ricardo Sison, and Ability Specialists, Inc. (Ability) appealed the trial court’s holding that they were not immune from the suit brought by plaintiffs Brandon McLaughlin, Michael McLaughlin, and Selena McLaughlin. The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s order and the case was remanded with directions.
Michael and Selena McLaughlin retained Ability to provide services to assist in the care of their developmentally disabled son, Brandon, who at the time was 21 years old. As part of the services, Oxley, an employee of Ability, was supervising Brandon at Oxley’s home, while Oxley’s own 7-year-old son, B.O., was present. Brandon and B.O. were left unattended together, during which time Brandon put B.O. in a “spanking position,” pulled down B.O.’s pants, and kissed him. Oxley informed his superiors, who called the police to investigate. The police charged Brandon with sexual assault on a child. The criminal case was dismissed after Brandon was found incompetent to proceed.
Plaintiffs later sued defendants, alleging negligence against Oxley and Ability. Defendants moved for summary judgment on all claims, arguing they were immune from liability under CRS §§ 13-21-117.5(4) and (6). The trial court denied the motion and defendants appealed.
CRS § 13-21-117.5 was enacted to “mitigate the risk of liability to providers to the developmentally disabled to the extent that such mitigation is reasonable and possible.” The Court agreed with defendants that the trial court erred in finding that § 13-21-117.5(6) did not apply. The trial court reasoned that the section applied only to immunize a provider against civil actions initiated by a victim of a developmentally disabled person’s assaultive behavior and not, as here, to a suit regarding harm to the developmentally disabled person. The Court found no support for such an interpretation of the statute. The order was reversed and the case was remanded for entry of summary judgment in favor of defendants.
Summary and full case available here.
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