Stanphill v. Ortberg

Illinois Appellate Court
Civil Court
Special Interrogatories
Citation
Case Number: 
2017 IL App (2d) 161086
Decision Date: 
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
District: 
2d Dist.
Division/County: 
Winnebago Co.
Holding: 
Reversed and remanded with directions.
Justice: 
SCHOSTOK

Defendant, a licensed clinical social worker employed by hospital, performed a suicide screening of patient and determined that he was not at imminent risk of harming himself. Nine days later, patient killed himself. After jury trial, jury returned a general verdict for Plaintiff and awarded nearly $1.5 million. Jury also answered in the negative a special interrogatory that asked whether Defendant counselor could reasonably foresee that patient would commit suicide 9 days after his meeting with her. Court erred in entering judgment for Defendants based on special interrogatory answer. The general verdict and the answer to the special interrogatory are not necessarily inconsistent, and thus the court should have entered judgment for Plaintiff. Answer should not prevail over the general verdict, because the special interrogatory was not in the proper form and was ambiguous. Plaintiff's psychiatrist expert's testimony was sufficient for jury to conclude that Defendant's misdiagnosis and misevaluation of patient was a proximate cause of his death. (McLAREN and BURKE, concurring.)