Duty  To  Warn/Confiden1ality    

Robin  Kuebler  

Duty  to  warn:    Responsibility  of  a  counselor  or  therapist  to  inform  third  par1es  or  authori1es  if  a  client  poses  a  threat  to  himself  or  to  another  iden1fiable  individual.    Legal  duty  to  warn  was  established  in  the  case  of  Tarasoff  v.  Regents  of  the  University  of  California  (1976).        Duty  to  warn  gives  counselors  and  therapists  the  right  to  breach  confiden1ality  if  a  client  poses  a  risk  to  another  person.  

Tarasoff  v.  Regents  of  University  of  California  

•  Historical  case  that  established  duty  to  warn  •  1974  -­‐  Prosinjit  Podder  becomes  obsessed  with  Ta1ana  Tarasoff  •  Podder  informs  a  health  center  psychologist  at  the  University  of  

California  of  his  intent  to  kill  Tarasoff.  •  Psychologist  sends  leNer  to  campus  police  •  Police  conclude  that  Podder  poses  no  threat  to  Tarasoff,  but  

advises  Podder  to  avoid  her.  •  Podder  subsequently  stabs  Tarasoff  to  death.  •  Tarasoff’s  parents  sue  school  for  failure  to  warn  of  Podder’s  

murderous  intent.  •  1976  –  California  Supreme  Court  determines  that  mental  health  

professionals  have  a  duty  to  warn  an  intended  vic1m.  

Jablonski  v.  United  States  Court  of  Appeals  

•  Upheld  the  Tarasoff  decision  establishing  duty  to  warn.  •  1978  –  Ms.  Kimball  and  Mr.  Jablonski  are  in  a  rela1onship.    •  Jablonski  threatens  Ms.  Kimball  and  her  mother,  Ms.  Pahls,  and  aNempts  

to  kill  them.  •  July  10,  1978  –  Ms.  Kimball  takes  Jablonski  to  Loma  Linda  VA  Hospital  for  

behavioral  evalua1on  •  Jablonski  refuses  inpa1ent  admission,  receives  treatment  on  an  outpa1ent  

basis.  •  Doctors  at  the  VA  Hospital  fail  to  request  prior  medical  records  for  

Jablonski.  •  Doctors  conclude  that  Jablonski  poses  no  current  threat  to  Ms.  Kimball,  

but  suggest  that  she  end  the  rela1onship.  •  July  16,  1978  –  Jablonski  kills  Ms.  Kimball.  •  Ms.  Kimball’s  estate  sues  the  hospital  for  breach  of  duty  to  warn.  •  Court  finds  that  Ms.  Kimball  was  a  foreseeable  vic1m  of  Jablonski’s  

violence,  and  determines  that  the  hospital  failed  to  duly  warn  her.  

 

Hedlund  v.  Superior  Court  of  Orange  County,  California  

•  Established  duty  of  mental  health  professionals  to  warn  iden1fiable,  foreseen  vic1ms  AND  those  in  close  rela1onships  with  the  intended  vic1m.  

•  1979  –  During  counseling  sessions,  Stephen  Wilson  informs  his  psychologist  of  his  intent  to  commit  serious  bodily  injury  to  his  wife,  LaNita.  

•  Psychologist  failed  to  warn  LaNita  of  his  aggressive  intent.  •  April  9,  1979  –  Stephen  Wilson  shoots  LaNita.    LaNita  uses  her  

body  to  shield  her  son  Darryl  from  the  shotgun  blast,  saving  his  life.  

•  Court  finds  children,  family,  bystanders  of  an  intended  vic1m  are  due  a  warning  of  poten1al  harm.  

Thompson  v.  Alameda  County,  California  

•  Established  that  duty  to  warn  is  only  present  if  poten1al  vic1ms  can  be  specifically  iden1fied.  

•  James  F.  is  a  juvenile  offender  in  the  custody  of  Alameda  County.    He  states  that,  upon  release,  he  intends  to  kill  a  neighborhood  child.  

•  County  releases  James  F.  to  the  custody  of  his  mother  without  no1fying  police  or  neighbors  of  his  intent.  

•  Within  24  hours  of  his  release,  James  F.  sexually  assaults  and  murders  a  5-­‐year  old  boy  in  his  mother’s  garage.  

•  Parents  of  the  5-­‐year  old  bring  a  wrongful  death  ac1on  against  the  county.  

•  Supreme  Court  of  California  rules  that,  in  the  absence  of  an  iden1fiable  target,  Alameda  County  had  no  obliga1on  to  warn  a  poten1al  popula1on  of  vic1ms.  

References  Hedlund  v.  Superior  Court,    34  Cal.3d  695,  194  Cal.Rptr.  805;  669  P.2d  41  (1983).    Jablonski  v.  United  States  of  America,  712  F.2d  391  (1983).    Small,  Leslie  B.  (1985).    Psychotherapists’  Duty  to  Warn:    Ten  Years  Ager  Tarasoff.    Golden  Gate  University  Law  Review,  15(2),  1-­‐16.    Thompson  v.  County  of  Alameda,  404  U.S.  1026  92  S.  Ct.  668  30  L.  Ed.  2d  677  1972  U.S.  (1980).